From That First Moment
by iceandfire105
Summary: A lot of things happened in those seven years. Friendships were made, pain was struggled through and battles of all sorts were won. But what mattered was that they were there for each other. This is their story of what happened underneath Hogwarts' roof, from that first day at the playground. Please review! I don't own the cover. All rights (except for OCs) belong to J.K. Rowling.
1. Year 1-The Beginnings of Introductions

**Heyyyyyy!**

**Okay, first things first - I _know_ I said on my profile that I would do one story at a time. And I say, screw that resolution. I needed to write this. I have my plan set out and everything, and temptation was to much to resist. Okay. I don't have much to say now, except read and review!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**1 – The Beginnings of Introductions**_

**Lily**

'Come _on_, Tuney!'

Lily Evans started running towards the playground, constantly stopping and turning, waiting for her sister to catch up. The wind blew her long, red hair around her face. She swept it away impatiently. Petunia took her time to walk primly up the hill, like the polite little lady she had been raised to be.

'I'm _coming_, Lily. You shouldn't run. The mud will ruin your shoes.'

Lily huffed and turned again, ignoring what Petunia said, and sprinted onto the playground, diving onto the swing in her haste to get there. She shuffled around, getting comfortable, then kicked off the ground, sending the swing high into the air. Petunia pursed her lips in disapproval, and made one more comment about ruined shoes before perching on the swing beside her, slowly swinging backwards and forwards.

Lily laughed as she gained more height, getting almost as high as the swing frame before gravity pushed her back down again. It has taken a lot of persuading to convince her sister to take her to the playground, as Petunia wanted to stay home and do whatever big girls such as her liked to do. Lily had all but begged on her hands and knees, proposing that they could go to the library afterwards. At that suggestion, Tuney had agreed.

Lily had begun soaring up past the frame now, and an idea came to her. 'I'm going to let go.'

'What?'

'I'm going to let go. I want to fly.'

'_Lily.'_ Petunia's tone had become stern. 'No.'

'Three . . . two . . .'

'Lily, don't do it!'

'_One!_' Lily let go of her swing and soared through the air, laughing as she did so. She landed delicately on her feet a few metres away and turned to Petunia, grinning.

'Mummy told you not to!' Petunia stopped swinging and got off. She stood up, putting her hands firmly on her hips. Lily giggled.

'Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!'

'But I'm fine,' Lily said. She looked over at a bush nearby. 'Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do.'

She picked up a little, pale pink flower and held it in her hand. She had discovered this last week when playing in her garden at home. She kept back a grin and concentrated. The flower petals began curling open and closed, like delicate wings. She looked up at Petunia, waiting for her reaction.

'Stop it!' Tuney shrieked. Lily pouted, and tossed it to the ground.

'It's not hurting you.'

'It's not right,' Petunia muttered, watching the flower. But after a moment, curiosity obviously got the better of her. 'How do you do it?'

'It's obvious, isn't it?' Lily jumped in surprise. A boy had come out from behind the bush. His black hair hung limp around his face, and the clothes he wore were too big for him. He was small and skinny.

'What's obvious?' Lily asked.

He spared Petunia a quick glance and his voice lowered. 'I know what you are.'

Lily was confused. She didn't know this boy, yet he was claiming to know who she was. And she _already_ knew what she was. She was Lily Evans, she had turned nine years old on the 30th of January, she lived at 27 Nottingshire Place . . . so what was this boy talking about?'

'What do you mean?'

'You're . . . you're a witch.'

Lily frowned. 'That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!'

She turned around, back to Petunia. She didn't want anything to do with this boy.

'No!' he cried. Lily and Petunia were both holding onto the swing frame, watching him suspiciously.

'You _are_,' the boy insisted. 'You _are_ a witch. I've been watching you for a while. But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one, and I'm a wizard.'

Lily felt her eyebrows travel up her head. His story was so _silly_. Tuney seemed to think so, too. She gave a mirthless laugh. 'Wizard! _I_ know who _you_ are. You're that Snape boy!'

She turned to Lily. 'They live down Spinner's End by the river.' She looked back at Snape, a glare on her face. 'Why have you been spying on us?'

'Haven't been spying,' Snape said uncomfortably. 'Wouldn't spy on _you_, anyway. _You're_ a Muggle.'

Tuney flinched as though she had been slapped. Lily pursed her lips. She didn't know what he had just said, but she wasn't really liking this boy.

'Lily, come on, we're leaving,' Petunia said, flouncing off down the hill towards the gate. Lily didn't need telling twice. She glared at Snape then followed her.

When they were both home, Lily went to her room and sat on her bed, thinking. Why did that Snape boy think she was a witch? She was perfectly normal. She . . . no, that was a lie. She wasn't normal. She knew that.

Once, when she was five, there was a boy at school who liked to tease her and call her names. Eventually, Lily got so upset that she called him a stupid, warty toad, and somehow his skin took on an odd, green hue and ugly bumps sprouted up all over his face. Lily had insisted that it wasn't her fault. Another time in third grade, her teacher Mr Green liked to give her the hardest questions to solve and blamed her for everything that went wrong. One day, during a particularly difficult maths lesson, just as he started sneering at her, all of the chalk exploded and the cloth chalkboard rubber "slipped" out of his hands and hit him repeatedly over the head. Somehow, Lily still managed to take the blame for that one.

She wondered if Snape was right. She wasn't normal, so what if she was a witch?

* * *

A few weeks later, Lily had decided to go and ask Snape about her being a "witch." Her curiosity was effectively getting the better of her, and she wanted answers. That day, while her parents were out running errands and Tuney was too busy grooming herself at her armoire to care, she went for a walk. She knew Spinner's End wasn't far from her house and she could figure out what else to do once she got there.

Just as she turned onto the street, Lily practically ran head-first straight into someone. The boy stumbled backwards with a grunt, and Lily began frantically spluttering her apologies. The boy looked up.

'Snape!' she cried. 'Actually, well, I was looking for you, really. I wanted to talk.'

Snape flushed slightly at her upfront statement, and took a moment to respond. 'Sure. There's . . . there's a grove near that park that we can go to.'

Lily nodded earnestly. 'Of course.' She turned around and started walking. After a moment, it occurred to her that Snape wasn't following. 'Aren't you coming?' she asked.

'Uh, yeah. Absolutely.'

When they reached the grove, Lily sat down with her back against a tree. Snape sat across from her, a metre away. 'So . . . what did you want to talk about?'

'You said that I was a witch,' Lily said. 'Can you tell me about it?'

Snape nodded. 'Sure. When you're eleven, you get a letter from Hogwarts asking you to attend.'

'Hogwarts?'

'It's the school. Dumbledore's the Headmaster. He's also really famous. Just about every witch or wizard knows him.'

'When do we go?'

'On the first day of September, there's a train that takes us there. I think they'll tell you more about that in your letter.'

Lily adjusted herself and propped her chin on her knees, hugging her legs to her chest. 'I always knew I was different. I never thought it was magic, though.'

'Yeah,' Snape said, agreeing. 'We're special.'

There was a comfortable silence, as Lily skimmed through the huge number of questions filling her head. She had no idea what to ask first.

Oh. There was _something_ in particular.

'Snape?'

He looked up. 'Severus.'

'What?'

'It's Severus. Snape's my last name.'

'Oh. Okay. Well, Severus . . . why isn't Tuney going?'

Severus chewed his lip, an uncomfortable expression crossing his face. 'Well . . . she isn't a witch.'

'You called her something the other day. Started with M, I think.'

'A Muggle?'

'Yeah, that's it. What's a Muggle?'

'They're non-magical people,' Severus said officially, as though he had been practising it. 'Your parents are Muggles, too.'

'But I'm a witch?'

'Yeah.'

'But . . . how does that work?'

Severus paused, thinking over the question. 'I don't know, actually.' He looked up with an apologetic look. 'Sorry.'

Lily brushed it away with a wave of her hand. 'Don't worry about it.'

There was another silence, until Lily broke it with the question that was bothering her the most. 'We can't go 'til we're eleven, can't we?'

Severus shook his head glumly. 'No.'

Suddenly, it occurred to Lily _just_ how long she had been out of the house. 'Oh no. I need to go.'

She jumped to her feet, and looked back at Severus one more time. 'One last question.'

He looked at her expectantly, getting to his feet. 'Sure.'

'Can we be friends?'

He nodded energetically, beaming. 'Of course. That's a great idea.'

Lily grinned. 'Okay, then. Goodbye.' With that, she waved and turned, running out of the grove.

* * *

After that, two years seemed to fly, with Lily visiting Severus in their grove of trees, talking about Hogwarts and what they would do there. Then, one warm, July morning, there was a knock at the door as the Evans family were cleaning up the breakfast dishes.

'Get the door please, Lily,' Rose called as she dipped another plate into the soapy water. Michael didn't look up from his paper. Petunia handed their mother another stack of dishes.

Lily slid out of her seat and made her way down the hall to the front door, wrapping her dressing gown more tightly around herself. She pulled open the door.

There, standing on the front porch, was a woman wearing emerald robes. Her black hair was pulled up into a tight bun and a pair of spectacles perched on the bridge of her nose. Lily felt her eyes widen to the size of saucers.

'Erm, hello,' she murmured timidly. The woman gave her a brief nod.

'Good morning. Lily, is it?'

'Yes,' Lily replied. She wasn't sure how this woman knew her name. But she was filled with the strangest feeling as she looked up at her . . .

'Are your parents here?' the woman asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

'Yes,' Lily responded again, stepping aside so she could enter. The woman obliged and stepped into the hallway, looking to the kitchen where noises could still be heard. Lily led her into the kitchen, where her mother looked up from the sink.

'Good morning,' the woman said again. 'My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am here to speak to both you and Lily about her enrolment at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'

Rose's eyes widened, and she dried her hands on a tea towel. 'So, it's true then?' she asked. 'The school? The magic?'

Minerva nodded and pulled a letter from inside her robes. 'This is for you,' she said, handing it to Lily. Rose asked another question, but Lily didn't hear it. A dull hum had filled her ears, blocking out all sound. She looked at the first side, where written in emerald ink was:

_Miss L. Evans_

_Second Bedroom on the Left_

_27 Nottingshire Place_

_Cokeworth_

She gently turned it over with trembling hands to find a seal on the other side. There was a crest on the seal, split into four quadrants. In each quadrant was a lion, a serpent, a badger or an eagle. She opened the letter and pulled out the thick slip of yellowish parchment. She unfolded it and started reading:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment. _

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

Lily felt her jaw drop. This was it. She was going to Hogwarts with Severus. _She was going to Hogwarts!_

She looked up, where her mother was still asking questions and Minerva answering them. After about half an hour, when all of the details had been explained and all of the locations pointed out, she left, leaving the whole family (minus Petunia) in a daze.

'My daughter is a witch . . .' Rose murmured. 'My daughter is really a witch . . .'

Lily couldn't hold it back any more. She let out a squeal and ran to her room, throwing the door shut and tossing the letter onto the bedcovers. She tracked down a sheet of paper and made up a calendar counting down the days until the first of September. She then tacked it to her wall and collapsed onto her bed next to the letter, feeling giddy.

She was going to learn how to use magic. She was going to learn how to make potions. She was going to go with _Severus_. Relishing the thought of enjoying the most amazing experience of her life with her best friend, she grabbed her pillow and buried her face into it, grinning.


	2. Year 1-Train Rides To New Lives

**Woo hoo!  
**

**New chapter straight away, because I've already written it. Yay!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**2 – Train Rides To New Lives**_

**Lily**

Petunia was refusing to listen.

'I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry!' Lily pleaded, desperately trying to get her to pay her some mind. 'Listen. Maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney!' she said as Petunia tried pulling away from her grip. 'Maybe once I'm there, I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!'

'I don't – want – to – go!' Petunia responded, wrenching her hand out of Lily's grasp. 'You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a –'

She looked around for a split second before fixing her eyes on Lily's again, a nasty glare in them.

'You think I want to be a – a freak?'

Lily almost stepped back, and she felt her eyes beginning to tear up. She sniffled, but didn't try to stop attempting to reason with her sister.

'I'm not a freak. That's a horrible thing to say.'

'That's where you're going,' Petunia said, obviously delighted to have found an attack point. 'A special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy . . . weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety.'

Lily looked over at her parents, and a memory coming fresh into her mind, she turned back to her sister, her voice low. 'You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the Headmaster and begged him to take you.'

The blood went to Tuney's face and she started to glare herself.

'Beg? I didn't beg!'

'I saw his reply. It was very kind.'

'You shouldn't have read –' whispered Petunia. 'That was my private – how could you -?'

Lily glanced over towards Severus, who was standing a while away with his mother. She wondered if Tuney knew . . .

She realised she had given herself away when Petunia gasped. 'That boy found it! You and that boy have been sneaking in my room!'

'No – no sneaking -,' Lily tried, desperately attempting to explain. 'Severus saw the envelope, and he couldn't believe a Muggle could have contacted Hogwarts, that's all! He says there must be wizards working undercover in the postal service who take care of –'

'Apparently wizards poke their noses in everywhere!' spat Petunia. '_Freak!_'

Before Lily could say anything more, Petunia ran off to their parents.

Closing her eyes and attempting to hold back tears, Lily grabbed her trunk from beside her and made her way over to them, saying her goodbyes. Then, still desperately trying not to cry, she climbed onto the train and collapsed into the nearest empty compartment, lifting her trunk onto the luggage rack. She curled up on her seat and leaned against the window, looking out of it. She barely noticed when a group of boys entered and made themselves comfortable on the seat opposite her.

* * *

**Remus**

Remus Lupin pushed his way down the train, keeping his trunk close to him and attempting to navigate his way through the mass of people. The closest to an empty compartment that he had been able to find was one with a girl sitting in it on her own. He decided that it was the best he was going to do. Biting his lip, he pushed open the glass door and poked his head inside.

'Excuse me. Can I sit here?'

The girl looked up from her book and blushed furiously, getting up and muttering something about leaving for him. Just as she started to tug her trunk off the rack above her head, Remus caught her shirt sleeve.

'Wait. I'd like it if you stayed here with me.'

The girl's eyes widened with surprise. It was apparent that she hadn't been treated like that before. Hesitating slightly, she sat down. Remus heaved his trunk onto the other rack and sat down opposite her.

'My name's Remus Lupin,' he said. He cocked his head in her direction. 'What's yours?'

'Erm, Kayla,' the girl muttered, still red. 'Edwards,' she added as an afterthought.

Remus stuck out his hand. 'Pleased to meet you, Kayla.'

Kayla blinked, then shyly shook it. Remus studied her. She was very pretty, with long, dark brown hair that hung to her waist, tied into a ponytail and slung over her shoulder, hazel eyes, a small, pointed nose and full lips. He grinned.

'Where are you from?' he asked.

'B-Bracknell.'

'Oh, yeah,' he said, nodding. 'I know that place. I live in London.'

Kayla nodded and shuffled uncomfortably. Remus felt a strong twinge of sympathy for her. He knew what it felt like to be so antisocial that you didn't know how to act around people. He made a resolution to try and become friends with Kayla. He had a feeling that she would have trouble finding them for herself.

His eyes wandered down to the book she was holding in her right hand.

'What are you reading?' he asked. Kayla looked down at the cover, then back at Remus.

'Pride and Prejudice.'

'Do you like it?'

She nodded, and for the first time since they'd met, a small smile began creeping onto her lips. 'Oh, yes. It's my favourite.' He smiled with her. 'Tell me about it.'

And it was with those words, that Remus learned about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy, and other various characters from the novel. He listened and propped his chin in his hand, watching how Kayla had started off nervous at first, but slowly, ever so slowly, her confidence grew the more she spoke.

After five minutes, when Kayla had given him what they had both deemed a "brief" outline of the story, Remus posed a question that had been sitting on his mind since meeting her.

'Are you Muggleborn?'

Kayla flushed, and didn't answer for a moment. Then, she managed a whispered 'yes.'

Remus smiled and replied with, 'I thought so.'

But after that, Kayla seemed to slip back into her shy state, examining the world around her timidly, and speaking barely above a whisper.

As it started to get dark, Remus asked her what house she wanted to be sorted into.

'Well, I would like Ravenclaw, because I like learning, but Gryffindor seems nice as well,' she murmured, looking out of the window.

'They would probably be my preferences, too,' Remus replied. 'But, I suppose I can only go into Gryffindor, because that's where dad was. I'm a half-blood, you see.'

Kayla perked up slightly at that response. 'You're not . . . _all_ wizard?'

'Well, no. Of course not,' Remus laughed. 'There aren't many of those left.'

She blinked, and seemed to visibly cheer up, but continued looking into the darkness outside.

* * *

**Marlene**

Marlene McKinnon spotted a familiar head through a glass compartment door, and made her way over to it. Just as she was about to open it, it was pushed open anyway. A redheaded girl who seemed on the verge of tears left, and was followed closely by a stringy, sallow, black haired boy. Marley quirked an eyebrow, but otherwise did not say anything. She pushed through into the compartment, throwing her arms wide with an affectionate "Jamsey!" and wrapped her cousin up in a hug.

'Woah, hey Marls,' James responded, tightening the hug to the point of suffocating and grinning. They broke off from each other, and Marley heaved her trunk up onto the luggage rack, her cinnamon toast coloured curls tumbling into her face. She carelessly swept them away and plopped onto the seat, grinning at James.

'Introduce me to your buddies,' she said, pointing to the two boys either side of him. 'Actually, no, just buddy as the singular, I already know Sirius.' She shot the bloke in question a grin and looked back at James. He laughed, his black hair sticking up in random directions, and ruffled the other boy's blonde hair affectionately.

'Peter, Marlene. Marley, Peter.'

Marley stuck out her hand. 'Pleased to meet you, Pete.'

Peter grinned in response and shook it, replying with his own greeting.

James pointed a thumb at Sirius and said to Marley, 'his family are Slytherins. Did you know that?'

Marley nodded. 'Yeah. My dad works with his. I reckon he has a chance at Gryffindor, though. He's different to the rest of them.'

Sirius grinned. 'You know, I think that's the best compliment someone's ever given me. Cheers, Marls.' Marley laughed. 'Cheers.' She leaned forward and high fived him.

James raised his hand in the air in front of him and also grinned. 'To Gryffindor!'

'To Gryffindor!' they chorused, laughing and whooping.

* * *

**Remus**

Kayla was staring into the darkness outside, and Remus sat watching her. He tapped his fingers on his thigh and studied the anxious look in her eyes. The hazel irises were constantly moving, looking anywhere but him. He felt another wave of sympathy wash over him. It was like she had spent the whole of her _entire_ life living in isolation.

He exhaled lightly. That was going to change.

'You know, I think I should read this "Pride and Prejudice" you really seem to like.'

Kayla blushed slightly. 'Oh, no. I'm not sure you will . . . like it that much.'

Remus quirked an eyebrow. 'You sure?'

She nodded. 'Pretty sure. There's no fighting or anything. That's what guys like, isn't it? Fighting?'

He smiled. 'Only some. You know, I might just have a feminine side in here.' He tapped his temple knowingly.

Kayla stifled a giggle. 'Oh sure. Absolutely.'

'See?' Remus said, spreading his arms wide. 'Even you think so.'

She sniggered. 'That was _sarcasm_, Remus. Haven't you heard sarcasm before?'

He pulled a thoughtful expression and put a finger to his chin. 'Maybe. Perhaps once or twice before.'

She laughed. It was the first time he had heard her laugh. It was a bright, happy sound, and just hearing it made Remus grin.

'So you don't think I should?' he asked.

Kayla giggled again, before replying, 'well, I'd like to see you try. Let me know if you ever get through it.'

'I will, and I will. You'll see.'

A voice echoed through the train: 'We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.'

Kayla looked up. 'Er, do we change, or what?'

Remus shrugged. 'Just chuck your robes on over the top. We'll find out later.' He looked out of the window, where he could see a station in the distance, the streetlamps glowing pleasantly.

The sound of rustling and clunking filled the compartment, followed by an embarrassed 'um . . .'

He turned, to see Kayla with her robes half pulled over her head, her shoulders and elbows also stuck inside of the material. Her blue jumper was poking out from underneath.

Remus laughed lightly. 'Do you need some help?'

'Erm, yes please,' came Kayla's muffled response. He couldn't see her face, but he had a feeling she was blushing. He grabbed the bottom of the robes and tugged. They shifted slightly, and Kayla began shimmying them past her shoulders. Her head popped out of the neck of the garment, her hair dishevelled and her cheeks bright red. The rest of the robes tumbled into place.

'I've, uh, never worn these before,' she muttered. 'And I don't think you're supposed to put them on over clothes _this_ thick.'

Remus laughed again. 'Don't worry about it. You'll get the hang of it. And besides,' he gestured, 'you'll be plenty warm.'

Kayla pondered that thought for a second, and nodded. 'Yes, I suppose so.'

He smiled and patted down some of her hair that had stuck up haphazardly due to the static. She went slightly pink again and raised her own hand to her head. Their fingers touched for a split second and a jolt of static zapped them both, causing them to gasp and draw their hands back. They looked at each other for a moment, and burst out laughing.


	3. Year 1-The Sorting

**Hey!**

**I forgot to mention previously that just about all of the addresses in here will be made up. Just thought I'd make that clear. Please review!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**3 – The Sorting**_

**Lily**

Lily climbed out of the train with Severus close behind her, and looked around tentatively, wondering where to go. The memory of the black haired boy was still fresh in her mind. He was so arrogant. And he wasn't very nice, either.

She looked around her, where there was practically no space to move. The crowd of people was huge, and almost everyone was bigger than her. She grabbed Severus' hand and they began navigating the sea together.

She saw a few people who might have been first-years like themselves; a boy with light brown hair and light blue eyes who was walking with a dark-haired girl clutching a book to her chest, and a girl with long, golden-brown curls that tumbled down her back. These were the only people Lily had been able to clearly see, as almost everything else was hidden by a sea of black.

After a moment of hopeless navigating, a deep voice could be heard through the sound of hundreds of students chattering: Firs'years! Firs'-years! Over 'ere!'

About thirty metres away, there was a _huge_ man who towered over everyone else. Lily decided not to question his size, as it was probably normal to everyone else, and pulled Severus in his direction.

They came to a stop in front of the giant, who seemed to be twice the size of a normal man with a scraggly black beard, and wearing a moleskin overcoat. Severus looked at the man with an expression of disdain.

'Yeh firs'-years?' the man asked. Lily nodded shyly.

'All righ',' the man responded. 'When the res' are here, we'll be on our way.'

After about five minutes, a small collection of students had gathered with them, and they followed the man along a steep, narrow path.

'Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec,' the man called over his shoulder. 'Jus' round this bend here.'

They rounded the side of the cliff, and a collective gasp of awe escaped the group. The castle was sitting on top of a mountain, with what seemed like hundreds of turrets reflecting the moonlight. A lake shimmered, dark and still, below it.

'_This_ is Hogwarts?' Lily asked Severus, her eyes wide. When he nodded, she responded, grinning, 'it's amazing!'

'No more'n four to a boat!' the man called, pointing to a fleet of small boats sitting on the shore. Lily and Severus looked at each other, and climbed into one. They were soon joined by the brown haired girl and the boy Lily had seen with her.

'Everyone in?' the man asked the group. 'Right then – FORWARD!'

The little group of boats moved off onto the water at the same time, gliding along the surface of the lake. Lily smiled and trailed her hand in the cold water, enjoying the feeling. No one really said anything, except for the boy leaning over and murmuring something in the girl's ear. Lily brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked up at a quickly approaching cave. The boats still floated along the water into it, and stopped at a pebble-strewn shore inside of it. Everyone clambered out of their boats and milled around in a group, unsure of what to do.

The man then instructed them to follow him again and the walked up a passageway out of the cave and onto the grass above. They walked up a set of stone stairs that lead to a huge, oak front door. The man raised a fist and knocked three times on it.

The door swung open without a seconds' pause. Minerva was standing there, dressed in her green robes, with a pointed hat perched on her head.

'The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall,' the man said dutifully.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.'

'That beast-man is called _Hagrid_?' Severus hissed incredulously in Lily's ear.

'Be nice,' she scolded.

Minerva pulled the door open fully to reveal a gigantic Entrance Hall, lit with torches sitting in brackets on the walls. The first years followed her into a small chamber off the hall.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' Minerva said. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

'The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

'The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up while you are waiting. I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.' She left.

Lily turned to Severus. 'How do they do the Sorting?' she asked anxiously.

'Don't worry,' he assured her. 'They just stick a hat on your head. I think.'

She nodded and straightened up her braid, tucking some flyaway strands of hair behind her ear. A small buzz of nervous chatter filled the room. Lily stood quietly and wrung her hands in front of her.

Professor McGonagall returned, halting all of the talking. 'Please follow me.'

The first years lined up behind her and followed her back into the Entrance Hall, and through another set of double doors.

Faces. That was all that Lily could see. Hundreds of faces staring at them as they made their way in between four long tables and down the middle of the hall, towards a single table at the front, before which a four-legged stool was sitting.

Professor McGonagall placed a patched and frayed hat on top of the stool. Lily looked at it, confused. She had to put _that_ thing on her head?'

Suddenly, completely without warning, the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing. This action startled Lily so much that she never actually absorbed what it was singing _about_. The entire time, the thought that was running through her head was "a singing hat. A singing hat. _A singing hat!_"

She blinked as the hat stopped and the whole hall rung with applause. She looked at Severus with wide eyes.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, holding a scroll of parchment. 'When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.'

'Bones, Amelia.'

A girl with her dark hair pulled into a plait walked towards the stool, trembling slightly. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. It seemed to think for a moment, before the brim opened and the hat shouted 'HUFFLEPUFF!'

The table on the right cheered, and Amelia pulled the hat off her head and walked over to it.

'Black, Sirius.'

One of the three boys Lily had seen in her compartment earlier walked over to the stool, looking a bit depressed. She could have sworn she heard him mutter, 'and another Black for Slytherin.'

Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head, where it didn't say anything for almost a full minute. Then, completely out of the blue, it shouted 'GRYFFINDOR!'

The grin that split Sirius' face couldn't have been any brighter; he ripped the hat off and bounded down to the Gryffindor table on the far left.

'Diggory, Amos.'

A blond haired boy with blue eyes walked confidently over to the stool, and sat the hat on his head. The hat didn't even hesitate to shout 'HUFFLEPUFF!'

The list ran through, where, 'Edwards, Kayla' became the second Gryffindor. Then, it was Lily's turn.

'Evans, Lily.'

She walked forward on trembling legs and perched on the edge of the stool, where Professor McGonagall dropped the hat onto her head.

'GRYFFINDOR!'

The bellow filled Lily's ears and she jumped up, pulling it off her head and placing it on the stood. The whole of the Gryffindor table began cheering and she felt herself blushing. She began hurrying down to the table, and shot a quick glance at Severus as she did so. He looked rather disappointed. She gave him an apologetic smile and continued on her way. Sirius moved over to make some room for her, but feeling disgusted as she looked at him, the memory of the event on the train still fresh in her mind, she folded her arms and sat further down the table. Shortly after, she was joined by 'McKinnon, Marlene.'

Marlene was the girl with the golden-brown hair she had seen earlier, and she seemed extremely happy to have been placed in Gryffindor. She plopped down on the bench beside Lily and grinned. 'Hey, roomie!'

Lily blinked. 'Roomie?'

'Yeah. We're gonna be sharing a dormitory.' She beamed. 'Pretty awesome, eh?'

Lily couldn't stop the smile that started to make its way onto her face. 'I suppose so, yes.'

Marlene stuck out her hand. 'Marlene McKinnon, as you'd probably already know, but you can call me Marley. I like it better.'

Lily laughed and shook her hand. 'Okay, then. Well, Marley, I'm Lily Evans. Pleased to meet you.'

Marley laughed. 'Pleased to meet you, too.'

Lily looked down the table, where Sirius had been joined by the boy with the light brown hair. Up at the teacher's table, 'Pettigrew, Peter' had just been sorted into Gryffindor. He scurried down to their table and sat with the boys.

'Potter, James.'

The black haired boy Lily had met on the train seemed to practically strut up to the stool and put the hat on his head. The material had barely touched an unruly hair on his head when it screamed 'GRYFFINDOR!'

James grinned and jumped off the stool, receiving a huge rumble of applause, and came down to the table, sitting beside Sirius.

Lily pursed her lips and turned her head away, back to Marley. 'Are you a pure blood?'

She nodded. 'James is my cousin and I already know Sirius. But what about you?'

'I'm Muggle born.'

Marley grinned. 'Cool! I've never met a Muggle born before. What's it like?'

Lily blinked. She had never really assumed her way of being brought up was anything special, but she supposed from a wizard's (or witch's) point of view, it was probably like coming from another planet.

She shrugged. 'It's all right, I suppose.'

Marley picked up a fork in front of her hand twirled it between her fingers. 'Do they follow Quidditch where you come from?'

'Do we follow _what_?'

Marley gasped. 'Don't tell me you don't know what Quidditch is!'

'Erm . . .'

'I _have_ to get you into it! It's only the best sport ever invented!'

Lily stared confusedly. 'Okay . . .'

Marley instantly launched into a detailed description of the game, explaining various balls and positions on the field, etcetera, etcetera, and by the time that the Sorting had finished, Lily still wasn't any more enlightened than she had been earlier. She pretended to be however, and that made Marley happy.

A man at the teacher's table stood up. His hair and beard were silver, and very long. He wore a pair of half-moon spectacles that perched on the bridge of his nose, and he was dressed in midnight blue robes.

'That's Albus Dumbledore,' Marley hissed, as the hall went quiet. 'You _have_ to have heard of him.'

Lily nodded, remembering his name from the letter she had received all those weeks ago.

Dumbledore spread his arms wide, beaming. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! I will not be cruel enough to distract you all from the feast I know you are so keen to demolish, so all I can say is: enjoy!'

Instantly, the gold platters in front of them filled up with all of the foods that Lily could imagine. She gasped and looked at Marley in stunned awe, who was already piling a healthy serving of rice onto her plate.

'You heard the man,' she said. 'I'm hungry!'

Lily laughed in assent and began forking some roast chicken onto her plate.

The feast was a pleasant affair, where Lily discovered that a popular drink among wizards was _pumpkin juice_. When she had first seen it, assuming it was orange juice, she poured it into a goblet and took a reasonable sized sip. The taste however, was far from orange. It wasn't unpleasant however, so she swallowed it.

'Is this . . .' she asked, her eyes wide, 'pumpkin?'

Marley nodded, happily slicing up some boiled potatoes. 'Haven't you had pumpkin juice before?'

'No.'

'Well,' Marley said, setting down her fork and giving Lily a mock-stern look. 'I have a _lot_ to teach you about.'

Lily laughed. 'Yes ma'am.'

After everyone had finished with dinner, the remains of the food faded away leaving the plates cleaner than any dish should be. Then, the dessert appeared. Instantly, Lily dove into the apple tart, serving herself a large portion and dishing up some ice cream with it.

When the last of the dessert had also been eaten, the dishes cleaned themselves once again, and Dumbledore stood up, this time for a more official speech.

'I hope that the food was to your liking,' he said, smiling as he looked around the hall. 'I have a few more words for the present moment. First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds at all times, and that magic should not be used in the corridors between classes.

'Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their team should contact Madam Hooch.'

He ran through a few more notices, and then dismissed them to their dormitories.

Lily and Marley got out of their seats and looked around, wondering where to go.

'First years! Follow me, please.'

They turned to see a tall girl with her blonde hair swept into a messy plait was the one who was calling. They walked over to her. The girl smiled at them.

'Hi. I'm Emmeline Vance, Gryffindor Prefect. Follow me, please.'

Lily and Marley looked at each other and trotted after her, following her out of the Great Hall and up some staircases. The other Gryffindor first years also came.

After a few minutes of taking various paths, they came to a stop outside of a giant portrait of a lady wearing a pink dress. Emmeline turned to the group.

'This is the Fat Lady. Her portrait is the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. Every month, there is a new password.' She turned to the portrait. '_Aperto prego.'_

The Fat Lady nodded and the portrait swung open, revealing the room behind her. They climbed into it and looked around. It was a cosy, round room full of armchairs. A fireplace burned at one end.

'Girls, take this staircase, and boys, take the one over there,' Emmeline directed. 'Your dormitories have a sign on the door, so you'll know.'

Lily and Marley made their way up the spiral staircase with three other girls, and went through the door with a plaque that read _First Year_. Lily pushed open the door to reveal a round room with five beds all placed evenly around the edge, each with the owner's trunk sitting at the foot of the bed. Lily spotted hers directly opposite the door and made a beeline for it. Marley plopped down on the bed beside her. Lily grinned, and waved goodnight to Marley and tugged the curtains around the four poster. She leaned over the end of her bed and pulled a pair of pyjamas out of her trunk. She pulled them on and climbed under the covers, staring at the ceiling. She was _at_ Hogwarts. This was the start of everything. She grinned happily to herself and closed her eyes.


	4. Year 1-The Wars of the Morning

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* * *

_**4 – The Wars of the Morning**_

**Marlene**

Marley woke up fairly early the next day; the sun was only partially lighting the grounds outside. She stretched and yawned, and made a bit of a show of waking herself up, ruffling her hair so it stuck out in different directions à la James. She looked around sleepily, where the dormitory was still mostly dark. With another gigantic yawn, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and promptly tumbled off with them when the momentum threw her too far.

'Agh!'

She grabbed around wildly, her hands closing on some material and pulling it over. Her head knocked onto part of Lily's bed frame and her curtains were pulled partially open, causing the whole bed to creak. Rubbing her head and swearing under her breath, Marley sat herself on her bum in the middle of the nest of upturned quilts on the floor. One of Lily's eyes cracked open.

'Marley?' she mumbled, slightly inaudible.

Marley shook her head and got to her feet, carelessly tossing the quilts back onto her bed. 'Unless you're a natural dawn-riser, go back to sleep, Lil.'

'Dawn-riser? No thank you.' With that, Lily buried her face back into her pillow.

Marley grimaced and rubbed her eyes. She looked around the dormitory, taking in the sight. Last night she had been so keen to crash that she had never looked at anything. The room was in one of the towers (duh), thus making the room round. Three of the five beds had the curtains pulled around them, so she had no idea who their other roommates were. There were two large cupboards at opposite ends of the room and a big, red rug was positioned in the middle of the wooden floor. A second door was beside one of the cupboards.

Marley pulled open her trunk and grabbed out her robes and some clothes. She _so_ was getting the shower first.

Ten minutes and a refreshing shower later, Marley came out of the bathroom with wet, braided hair and dressed in her robes. And there, sitting on a bed with recently drawn back bed curtains, was Claire Winters.

The blonde in question's eyes widened as she saw Marley, and her mouth set itself into a sneer.

'Well. I suppose I had to expect to see you around here _somewhere_, Marlene.'

'Nice to see you too, Claire,' Marley muttered sarcastically. 'Where's your twin demon?'

Claire scoffed. 'Imogen?' She jabbed a careless thumb to the bed beside her.

Marley rolled her eyes. 'Oh yes. I see. Can't be separated, can you?'

Claire and Imogen Golden were cousins/best friends/partners in evil, and Marley was ashamed to say that she was (somehow) distantly related to them. _Somehow_. Personally, she found James a more appropriate relative, and, however much she may or may not adore him, he was a complete and utter prat. That was putting it lightly.

Thankfully, you couldn't instantly tell that Marley was related to either of the girls. Claire was your typical, almost stereotype blonde, with straight hair that reached her mid-back, cold, blue eyes, and the air of being a Daddy's Girl, thus having every wish catered to. Imogen was different in the looks category, but exactly the same when it came to personality. Imogen's original hair colour was difficult to decide as she had discovered the wonders of hairspray not long ago, and she did this in order to make herself look older than she really was. One day it would be blonde, another - black, and some days when she was feeling really nutty, bubblegum pink. She had hazel eyes like James, and the same spoiled aura as Claire. Marley hated the pair of them.

Claire hopped off her bed, rising about two inches higher than Marley, and put a hand on her hip, inspecting her nails on the other. 'Is there anything you want, _Marlene_?'

Marley scoffed. 'From you? Certainly not. I would only go to you for manicure advice, and even then, I'm sure you couldn't bear to waste your precious time on the likes of_ me._ Definitely not. So, if you don't mind, I'll be on my way with no more interruptions, if you please.' She flipped her still-dripping hair over her shoulder in what she deemed a pretty good imitation of Claire, and sashayed over to her bed, hopping in and pulling the curtains around herself.

She spent the next half hour there, after which someone else rose, giving herself cause to resurface. She poked her head through the red material, where a brown haired girl had just shut the bathroom door behind herself. Marley blinked and looked out the window, where the sun was a reasonable height in the sky. Lily was still asleep. Marley grabbed her pillow and chucked it at her head. 'Up, up, _up_, Lil!'

Lily groaned and rolled over, waving an arm vaguely in Marley's direction. The sound that came out of her mouth went something like ' . . mgetn . . . up . . .'

Marley jumped off her bed. 'Noo_ooo_. You will get up _now_. I'm hungry, and I want company at breakfast.'

Lily mumbled something again, and Marley grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her, blankets and all, into a heap on the ground. Lily squawked and flailed wildly.

'Now you're up,' Marley said smugly.

Lily's face was buried in her blankets. 'You are a _cow_. You know that?'

'Heard it too many times to count. Now, come on. Up!'

Lily grumbled, but her head popped above the sheets. Her hair was a dishevelled mess - the dark red was knotty and static had caused it to stand up in random directions. Her emerald eyes fixed with Marley's amber ones, looking thoroughly irritated. Marley grinned and stuck out her hands, giving her the option of being helped up. Lily took them and clambered to her feet.

'There,' she muttered. 'I'm up now. Happy?'

Marley tutted. 'Gee, Lil. I thought you were _nice_.' She grinned teasingly. Lily rubbed one side of her face tiredly.

'Not when people wake me up like you do,' she replied glumly. Marley laughed.

'Well, _hey._ I got you up successfully, didn't I? I didn't leave you rolling around in bed for another half hour. Anyway, it's seven. I want breakfast.'

Lily pondered the idea, blinking lazily. 'Mmm. Breakfast.'

The bathroom door swung open again and the brown haired girl stepped out, also wearing her robes. She halted at the sight of Lily and Marley and her eyes widened. She muttered a hurried apology, dumped her pyjamas on her bed, and fled. She pulled open the door to the staircase and shot past Claire and Imogen, who were on the stairs, and out of sight.

'Well, there's an oddball and a half,' Imogen stated bluntly. Her hair was caramel today, tied into a high ponytail.

'Introductions please, Marlene,' Claire demanded, looking distastefully at Lily and her rat's nest hair.

Marley sighed. 'Lily, they're Claire and Imogen Winters. Somehow, they're related to _me_, not Satan.'

Imogen clucked disapprovingly and Claire rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, yeah. Heard it before.'

Marley grabbed Lily by the shoulders and steered her into the bathroom, locking the door behind them.

'A word of warning,' she started. 'Those two will give you hell if you let them. Sass them as much as possible and you'll get through life a little easier.'

Lily nodded slowly. 'That's not very . . . nice, though. Maybe they can change?'

Marley laughed dryly. 'Yeah. _That's_ going to happen.'

Lily pursed her lips. 'There's potential.'

Marley shook her head, some loose curls framing her face bobbing crazily. 'No, no, no. Just leave them Lil, and when you have to, let them know you're not taking any rubbish from them. Trust me. I know them. They're _my_ ever-so-distant cousins.'

'Ever-so-distant?'

She waved it away impatiently. 'Something happened, I dunno. Probably the spawn of some uncle's long lost relations. _Two_ sets of long lost relations.'

'Erm . . .'

'Don't worry. I never bothered to actually figure it out.'

'Right.'

Marley reached over and combed a tangle out of Lily's hair. 'Get yourself fixed up. My stomach isn't willing to wait a long time.'

* * *

**Remus**

In the boys' dormitory, Remus had his head buried in his Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook. Loud snoring could be heard through his bed hangings, emphasising that everyone else in the dorm were heavy sleepers. He spared his watch a quick glance at his watch – 7:03 – and turned back to the chapter. He was considering getting breakfast soon, even though he wasn't particularly hungry. A severe disadvantage of being a werewolf – other than being shunned from most of society – was that sometimes he had an extreme lack of appetite. He blamed it on the ill feeling he generally got towards the end of the month and the beginning of the next.

A halted snore and a grunt came from the bed next to him, and the sounds of a thump and a scuffle ensued. Remus poked his head around the curtains.

There, sprawled out on the floor, and apparently in a rather intense battle, lay two of the boys he had seen at the Sorting last night. They both had black hair of varying lengths, and one was blinking as though he couldn't see properly. Remus was pretty sure that he was supposed to have glasses.

'Aww, come off it Sirius! I was sleeping!' the shorter haired boy complained.

'Told you I'd do it, James,' the other responded.

'I didn't want to be jumped on, though!' James groaned.

'Don't bet you I won't wake up before you, then.'

An eyebrow had long since begun travelling up Remus' forehead. The boys continued their scuffle, flopping around like a pair of fish on the rug in the middle of the room, where several possessions and garments were already strewn.

'What the . . . – James? Sirius?'

A blonde haired boy was also looking out from between his bed curtains, looking just as confused as Remus felt.

'Hey, Pete,' James grunted out. 'Don't -' A grunt here. '- mind us.' An _oof_ there.

Remus exchanged an incredulous look with the boy and they both climbed out of their beds, coming to stand beside the scuffle. After a while, Sirius finally extracted himself from their wrestling match and got to his feet, dusting himself off. James stood up seconds after. They both grinned.

'Needed that,' Sirius said in response to Remus' questioning expression.

'_Why?_'

'Sirius told me yesterday that he likes to sleep in,' James began, cracking his neck. 'And I do too, you see. So I said, "If you wake up before me, you can do what you want." _This_ was his idea of "do what you want."'

Remus nodded. 'I'm going to assume this is normal, then?'

James grinned again. 'Go ahead.' He wandered over to his bedside table and put on his glasses, apparently happy to be able to see properly again.

Sirius stuck out his hand to Remus. 'Sirius Black.'

Remus took it and shook. 'Remus Lupin.'

Sirius grinned and gestured to the other two boys. 'That's James Potter, and over _there_,' he leaned sideways to point to the blonde boy, who was now beside his bed and out of Sirius' line of sight. 'Peter Pettigrew.'

Both boys waved in acknowledgement as Sirius said their names, and James slipped over a stray shirt in his haste to shake Remus' hand. He landed on the floor with an _oomph_ and winced as his backside hit the floor. He accepted Remus' offer to help him up then energetically shook his hand, grinning again.

'Well lads, now that's over, I'm hungry!' Sirius announced. There were instant responses of agreement to that statement and within the next four and a half seconds, trunks had been shoved open and more garments flung through the air.

* * *

**James**

They made it down to the Great Hall in what seemed like record time to James. Being unjustly tackled and woken up wasn't generally a way that he was used to starting the morning, and that sort of thing evidently made a bloke very hungry.

The four of them sprinted into the half-filled hall and made a beeline straight for the food. They crowded together onto the bench, all looking considerably happier than most, who apparently weren't morning people.

Halfway through his plate of eggs, bacon and toast, Professor McGonagall (he had learnt her name from a sour fourth year troublemaker, who had gotten straight back onto her bad side within hours of arriving) swept among the Gryffindors, handing out timetables as she did so. James accepted his without looking at it and instead looked up and down the table.

Ah. There she was.

Red.

Well, in all honesty, he didn't know her name. All he knew was that he managed to brass her off royally on the train yesterday. He wondered how much he could test her temper. And in the meantime, until he learnt it, Red could be her name.

She was happily chatting with Marley, a chunk of pancake sitting forgotten on her fork. Her eyes were _really_ green, James noticed. Green, like . . . emeralds, perhaps. Her skin was pale, too, with a light scattering of freckles across her nose. Hmm.

She looked around at that moment and her eyes met James'. They narrowed dangerously and she immediately turned away, her nose in the air. James sniggered. Day two had barely started and here they were.

'Oi! James.' Sirius prodded him in the cheek with a sticky, syrupy fork. James yelped in indignation, bringing his hand to his face, trying to wipe away the mess. Sirius laughed.

'Come on, we're going.'

James grumbled and grabbed some napkins. Remus hauled a satchel over his shoulder.

'We've got History of Magic first.'

Both Sirius and James groaned.

Half an hour later, they had located the classroom and joined the growing queue outside. A small cluster of Ravenclaws who also had the same subject were animatedly talking about the last Quidditch game – England verses France. France had been thrashed horribly, and James was proud to say that he and his father had Top Box seats, supporting England. He had intentions to join the team when he left Hogwarts, and hadn't missed a single game since his fourth birthday. He had learnt to fly soon after and wasn't modest in the slightest when thinking of himself as a professional. He knew that when he was on the Gryffindor team next year – and he _was_ going to be on it – he was going to try out as a Chaser. It was the position that he played best.

His train of thought was interrupted by a ghost passing through the classroom door, looking partially asleep. The ghost mumbled something about them being allowed to enter, and floated back through the door again. Remus pushed open the door and everyone filed in rowdily.

The ghost informed them that his name was Professor Binns and that they were to start taking notes. Without further ado, he began droning on about the goblin rebellion of 1398.

* * *

**Remus**

For the first ten minutes of that lesson, Remus had paid some attention. When it became obvious that he was going to learn more from a log of wood however, his mind had wandered elsewhere.

Kayla was sitting in the row in front of him, her hair reflecting the light coming through the window, diligently taking notes.

Remus was extremely confused.

When the train had arrived at the station yesterday, Kayla had snapped back into her antisocial state, jumping up and making a run for it. When he had recovered from that slight shock - he thought he had finally made her feel comfortable – he ran after her. She might have gotten away completely, but he caught her at the boats, grabbing her hand lightly. Kayla had practically jumped a mile in the air and whirled around to Remus, her eyes wide.

'What's wrong?' he asked gently. Kayla didn't reply, but turned rather pink-cheeked. He accepted her silence for the moment, and gestured for her to get in the boat with him. She hesitated, then sat down gingerly. The boats took off into the water, and they sat in silence.

When Hagrid called, announcing that they were about to see Hogwarts, he leaned over.

'You're going to like this,' he whispered. Kayla looked confused for a moment, then her eyes widened in awe as they rounded the corner. Her lips parted, mouthing words of astonishment that never came out. Remus knew that he'd be lying if he didn't say that was one of the most pleasing sights he had ever seen. The fact that she had forgotten her discomfort for a moment – well, it made him feel pretty good inside.

She turned to Remus, her eyes shining. 'Look at it!' she whispered. Remus grinned.

'I know,' he murmured back. 'It's great, isn't it?'

She nodded, her eyes delightedly surveying the turrets and towers, the windows sparkling in the moonlight.

They managed to out of the boat and walk up to the castle together, but Kayla hadn't tried to run again. Remus was extremely relieved. After the Sorting, he sat down at the Gryffindor table with her, and they talked about books the entire time. It was one thing they definitely had in common. When the feast ended however, Remus was swept up in a crowd of Gryffindors, all on their way to the tower. Kayla had disappeared . . . again.

Feeling incredibly disappointed, he had followed the group to the common room and curtained himself in his bed, not really noticing when anyone else came in.

And now he sat, studying the back of her head in the middle of a History class. He had no idea why she kept on running away from him. He was trying his hardest, but she wasn't making it any easier for him. It was like trying to catch a piece of paper in a heavy wind – sometime he would grab it, and just when he thought he had a proper grip on it, it would be ripped out of his grasp again.

He frowned, and tapped his quill against his ink pot. He wasn't giving up any time soon, though. He was going to catch Kayla, and when he put his mind to something, it didn't follow another track until he had done it.

* * *

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	5. Year 1-James Potter, King Of The Prats

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_**5 – James Potter, King Of The Prats**_

**Lily**

After History, the Gryffindors had Potions. Lily could easily say that this was what she had been looking forwards to the most, for two whole years.

'Sev!'

Her books bouncing around crazily in a satchel on her hip, Lily caught up to Severus on her way to class. He turned around, and grinned when he saw her.

'Hey, Lily.'

'You have Potions, don't you?'

Severus nodded. 'Yeah. Do you?'

Lily beamed. 'This is great! We can sit together!'

He looked uncomfortable suddenly, and didn't quite meet her eyes when he spoke. 'Um, actually, I said I'd with some boys from my house.' He still didn't look up. 'Sorry, Lily.'

Lily's smile fell slightly, but she nodded understandingly. 'It's okay. I'll go sit with Marley instead.'

Severus nodded. 'Okay.'

They walked together into the dungeons and walked into the classroom with everyone else, before parting ways. Lily sat down at a bench next to Marley, while Severus went over to some Slytherin boys on the other side of the room.

Marley leaned over to her. 'What were you doing with that Slytherin guy?'

Lily frowned. 'He's my friend.'

Marley looked considerably surprised at that statement. 'Oh. Really?'

Lily cocked her head to the side. 'What's odd about it?'

'It's just that almost every Slytherin is prejudiced against Muggleborns.'

Lily chewed her lip. 'But Sev said that it didn't matter.'

Marley shrugged. 'Well, it doesn't, but a lot of pure-bloods and about ninety nine percent of the Slytherin population think that it does.'

Lily felt her stomach sink all the way into her toes, and she looked down at the desk surface sadly. Marley prodded her in the side with her elbow.

'Oh, come on, Lil,' she said with a little too much gusto. 'Those people don't matter anyway, if they think that. Personally, I think you're awesome.'

Lily managed a smile. 'Thanks, Marley.'

The low hum of voices halted with the door creaking open. Lily looked up to see a pot-bellied man with balding, ginger hair and a bushy moustache. The man beamed upon seeing them all.

'Well, if it's not my next batch of first years,' he cried jovially. 'And how are you all?'

There was a slight murmur of response to this question and a few students shuffled uncomfortably, obviously baffled by the teacher's pleasant attitude.

'Now, now,' the teacher reprimanded them, shaking a stubby finger. 'No need for such a lack of enthusiasm. I am Professor Slughorn.'

There was another collective murmur of greeting as Professor Slughorn moved around to the front of the classroom, waving his wand and producing a scroll of parchment from thin air. 'How about I take the roll now, then?'

Over the next few minutes, he read out names from his scroll of parchment and looked up as each student answered, greeting each one more energetically than they did.

'Now we can get down to business,' he finally said, putting down his parchment and rubbing his hands together. 'If you open your textbooks to page two hundred and thirty eight . . .'

* * *

'That was _fun_,' Marley said dryly as they exited the dungeons forty five minutes later. She brushed some soot off her sleeve. 'If I wanted to become charcoal, I'd ask.'

'Oh, come on Marley,' Lily said. 'It wasn't too bad. And now you know for next time that mandrake root and silverleaf leaves don't work together without causing chaos.'

Marley grumbled and folded her arms crossly, her blackened curls tumbling in her face. They walked in silence for a few minutes before she cried out: 'It's not my fault I'm an excellent flame conductor!'

'At least you didn't properly catch fire,' Lily said reasonably.

'Yeah, well . . .'

Marley stopped and looked up. 'James!'

Lily paused. Who?

And then _it_ arrived. The black haired boy with the glasses was standing in front of them, grinning. 'Marls!'

Marley laughed and flung her arms around the boy's shoulders, hugging him. 'Long time, no see!'

'I saw you _yesterday_, Marley.'

'I know.'

Lily frowned. This boy . . . was James. As in, Marley's cousin, James. Marley had talked about him a lot in 24 hours. Lily had supposed that he was the only decent relative that she had.

But . . . he had been horrible, and arrogant, and just about everything that Lily didn't like. But here Marley was, holding him up in the highest light, like he was some sort of great person. Lily frowned.

James broke off from Marley, and looked over her shoulder at Lily. 'Hey, Red!'

Red?

_RED?_

Lily shot him a scathing look and turned on her heel, looking away from him.

'Her name's _Lily_,' Marley reprimanded him.

She could practically _hear_ James grinning from the tone he used. 'Ah, okay. Oh well, I like Red, too. I might keep using it.'

'That's a dangerous idea . . .'

'Red!'

Lily stuck her nose in the air, still looking away from him. 'I'm sorry, but are you talking to _me_?'

'Maybe.' He was _still_ grinning. She could tell.

Finally, with an irritated huff, she turned back around to face him. 'It's good that you let me know this, but the thing is, I probably won't reply to Red, because my name is Lily. _LI-LY_.'

James smirked. 'Gotcha. How about a surname, then?'

'Excuse me?'

'What's your last name?'

'Evans,' she said stiffly.

'Evans,' he repeated, quirking an eyebrow.

'Yes. _Evans_. Do you have a problem with it?'

'I do actually,' he replied smoothly. 'I think you should change it.'

'_Excuse me?_'

'I actually know what you should change it to.'

'What? Wait – James!'

But James had already turned and had begun walking off, a satisfied smirk on his face.

'What's his last name?' Lily asked Marley quickly, watching his retreating back.

'Potter.'

'Thanks. _James Potter, you get back here RIGHT NOW!'_

But James only laughed and waved a hand over his shoulder. 'Pleasure meeting you, Evans!'

Lily growled, and turned to Marley, who was grinning.

'What?' she cried at Lily's pointed look. 'He _is_ a prat, but he's great once you get to know him.'

Lily snorted in disdain. 'Great. Sure.'

'He _is_.'

'Come on. Let's go to lunch. I'm hungry,' said Lily, making sure her tone said that the conversation was closed.

* * *

**Remus**

Remus poked his head around the library door frame, his eyes scanning up and down the shelves. _Here_ was a possibility. He walked into the room and gave the hawk-eyed librarian a nervous grin, before setting off on his quest. Damn, this library was _big_. He passed the Charms and Transfiguration section, peering down the aisles, but not finding anything more than a handful of keen seventh years already beginning their NEWT studies. Biting his lower lip, he began searching along other sections.

Potions . . .

History . . .

Ancient Runes . . .

Astronomy – wait.

He stopped suddenly and craned his neck, looking past a desk pushed in front of a bookshelf. In a little armchair in the corner at the very end of the aisle was a glossy brown head of hair. The sunlight streamed in through the window just above, and piles of books surrounded the armchair like a nest. Cracking a small smile, Remus made his way down the row and pretended to be browsing books. Kayla didn't look up.

'Nice little home you've got here.'

She jumped violently at his voice and looked up like a startled deer.

'I - I'm sorry,' she stuttered. 'Do you want me to leave?'

Remus laughed lightly. '_No_, silly. In fact, it would be nice if you stopped disappearing.'

Kayla blinked owlishly.

'Erm . . .' she began.

Remus strode over to her and pulled a rickety wooden chair from under the desk as he did so. He set it down and sat opposite her, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees.

'What keeps scaring you off?'

'Um . . .'

Remus raised an eyebrow. 'Do you not like people, or something?'

' . . . sort of.'

'Sort of?'

'Well . . .' Kayla mumbled. 'I've never really had friends, so . . . I'm just not used to them, I guess.'

'What!'

'I know, terrible sob story!' she cried, throwing her hands up in defeat.

'No, I mean, how could you _not_ have friends?'

She gave him a deadpan expression.

'I mean, _come on_, you're nice, you're funny, you're smart, you're pretty –'

Now it was Kayla's turn to cry out in surprise. '_Pretty? _I'm sorry, Remus Lupin, but you –,' she gave him a pointed look, - 'are completely off your rocker.'

Remus crossed his arms defensively. 'No I'm not. And you know why?'

Kayla quirked an eyebrow, still wearing an unbelieving expression. 'Why?'

'Because it's _true_.'

She pondered this for a second, flushing crimson as she did so. 'Well, no. And I have some statements that can completely throw your _theory_ off balance.'

He pulled a face. 'It's not a theory!'

'First of all,' Kayla began, ignoring him completely, 'you've known me for a day. You have no idea if I'm completely nice. For all you know, I'm a demon in disguise.'

Remus snorted disbelievingly. 'Uh huh. Completely corrupted demon, right here.'

'Second of all,' she continued, 'how am I _funny?_ I don't talk to people, so how does that work?'

'You do it without intending,' Remus countered immediately, grinning inwardly at his quick response.

'Huh. Well, thirdly, as for being smart, for all you know, I could _pay_ someone to do the work for me.'

She gave him a satisfied smirk as if to say: _Beat that one_.

Remus laughed. 'Oh, sure. You pay someone to do your work, yet you do another copy for yourself _and_ extra homework.' He pointed to the nest of books, where sheets of parchment containing the set Potions assignment rested. Kayla flushed again at that.

'Well, _lastly_,' she said, raising her voice slightly, '_how the hell am I _pretty_?_'

Remus grinned. 'That's so easy to answer, I'm surprised you don't see it for yourself.'

The colour Kayla turned this time was almost impossible to describe, she was blushing so heavily.

'Just . . . just – shut up,' she mumbled.

'So,' Remus said, leaning forward and punching her lightly on the shoulder, 'I think I won that one.'

Kayla smiled slightly, still pink-cheeked. 'Maybe.'

'_No,_ definitely.'

'Oh, fine. You win. Happy?'

Remus grinned.

A loud bell signalling the end of lunch break rung then, and Kayla jumped up like she'd been electrocuted, cramming all of her books into her satchel and disappearing without another word.

What?

Remus gave a groan and slumped back in his seat. _So _close.

* * *

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	6. Year 1-Halloween & Pumpkins

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* * *

_**6 – Halloween And Pumpkins**_

**Lily**

To Lily, time almost seemed to fly now. Hogwarts was always offering new opportunities and things to do. She was never bored. Whenever she felt like it, she would borrow a book from the library for "light reading" or she and Marley would go on an escapade through the grounds (and for some_ odd_ reason, they always seemed to end with them almost disappearing into the Forbidden Forest). Potter was still a prat, desperate to harass Lily as much as possible, but really, she had gotten used to it. Her reasonably bright intellect had always managed to reply with a witty statement that left him confused, and she and Marley would walk off laughing.

She and Severus always did their homework together every afternoon in their own corner of the library, chatting about lessons. Granted, he had grown slightly more distant since they had arrived, and he spent a lot of his time with a group of surly looking house members, but Lily wasn't a clingy person. He was allowed to have other friends and do what he wanted.

Lily had surprised herself considerably in her classes. Because she was Muggleborn, she had expected that she would be behind the rest of the year. That however, apparently wasn't the case. Charms and Potions in particular had brought out a side to her that breezed through the subjects easily. Both Professors Flitwick and Slughorn marvelled at her ability, and though Lily was rather modest about it all, she couldn't help but feel a little proud.

The day before Halloween, Lily and Marley were sitting in the Great Hall, eating their lunch, when the foursome plopped down on the bench opposite them.

'Greetings, ladies,' Sirius said with a grin. 'And how are we this fine night?'

Lily quirked an eyebrow. 'I'm well, thank you.'

Marley grinned back at him. 'And what about you, huh?'

Sirius puffed out his chest proudly. 'Absolutely magnificent, my dear,' he said, putting on a posh accent. 'I am delighted that you asked.'

Marley laughed. 'Alrighty, then. What's got you in such a good mood?'

Sirius looked around, then beckoned Marley closer with his finger. Her cast Lily a glance too, and grinned. 'I s'pose you can know too, Red, if you promise not to say anything.'

Lily chewed her lip, thinking, but nodded as curiosity got the better of her. She and Marley leaned over the table towards him.

'We've got a nice little prank planned for tomorrow,' Sirius said with a grin. 'Be here at six forty-five if you wanna see it.'

'What are you going to do?'

'Now, now, Marls, that'll spoil the surprise. You've got to wait.'

Marley pouted, and folded her arms, sitting back in her seat. 'Oh, come on Sirius!'

Sirius shook his head, still grinning. 'Nope. It's confined to the Marauders only.'

'So _that's_ your little group's pet name?'

'Psh. Little group? We are daring adventurers, finding things that have been hidden for centuries! We search for what others do not dare! _We_ are –'

Marley stuck a hand over his mouth, muffling the rest of his speech. 'Okay, okay. I got the picture. But if you call staying out after curfew and getting a handful of detentions every other day being a _daring adventurer_, go right ahead.'

Potter leaned over. 'Of course we do, Marley! We've already found three passages out of the school!'

Lily blinked. 'Three? But we've only been here two months!'

Potter wagged his finger. 'A magician never reveals his tricks . . . or something like that,' he said, frowning as he thought. 'I think . . .'

Lily shook her head. 'It's "a magician never reveals his _secrets_", Potter.'

He grinned. 'Yeah. That's it!'

Lily snickered and rolled her eyes while Potter grinned happily to himself. 'Good job, Bright Sparks,' Marley muttered, just low enough that he couldn't hear. Sirius and Remus did however, and burst out laughing. Potter looked around confusedly.

'What did I miss?'

That statement was greeted by even more laughter from the whole group this time, and whenever Potter demanded an explanation, everyone was too busy laughing or eating to answer.

Half an hour later, the Marauders got up from the table, all high and happy for another night of rule breaking adventuring.

'We're off!' Sirius announced. The all turned and started to leave, before Potter apparently remembered something. Lily visibly flinched and began shuffling along the seat away from them. She knew what was coming. Potter grinned and vaulted (literally) over the table, next to Lily.

'See ya, Evans!' He engulfed her in a strangling hug while she squawked and bristled at this abuse.

'Potter – ugh – let – me – go!'

He laughed and finally abandoned his grip on her, pivoting on his heel and joining his mates. Lily rubbed her shoulder irritably. He did that _all_ the time now. It really had a habit of putting her off her food.

'On the bright side,' Marley said, evidently trying not to laugh, 'you know he likes you.'

'That's not true,' Lily replied bluntly. 'He hates me and does everything in his power to annoy me.'

Marley grinned. 'You keep thinking that. You'll come around to an accurate way of thinking eventually.'

Lily rolled her eyes again. 'Oh, shush.'

* * *

**Kayla**

'Wait, how does this work?' Remus asked, pointing to the list of ingredients written on his parchment. 'There's these instructions for the potion here –,' he pointed to an open textbook, '- but they've got the same potion_ here_, too,' he pointed to another book, '- just with different instructions.'

Kayla shook her head slowly. 'This one's stronger than the other one.' She pointed to the second book. 'They just need more suitable ingredients for it.'

Remus blinked, then realisation dawned on his face. 'Oh.'

It was Halloween morning, and they were sitting together in what had once been Kayla's nest, expanded so that it now fit two. She wasn't entirely sure, but Kayla felt like she was warming up considerably to Remus, and found she was gradually getting more comfortable around him. She actually didn't mind the feeling. Sure, she wasn't used to it, but it was pretty nice. He was nice too. He hadn't judged her on her antisocial quirks, and he actually had a habit of constantly tracking her down and hanging out with her. He did have other friends though; she had seen them. She knew he was the fourth member of the Marauder clan, and a skilled troublemaker. Usually, Kayla found that sort of thing irritating, but with Remus, it just seemed endearing.

Wait, what?

Anyway, the boy was different, she could say that much. He wasn't like any of the book characters she had a tendency to fall in love with, but . . . he was probably _her_ equivalent to those people.

Okay, her mind was really going off the rails today. Seriously, what was she thinking? As _if_ he would actually hang around. She wasn't even sure if they were friends, yet. And they probably weren't.

See, Kayla was just _that_ unexperienced, she didn't even know what having a friend felt like.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked back down at her Astronomy essay and put her quill to the parchment.

* * *

**Remus**

'It's six forty-three,' Peter informed them. 'Should we start?'

The Marauders looked at each other, then at the crate of pumpkin insides sitting innocently before them.

'You bet,' James said with a grin.

'Who's our target?'

James thought about it for a moment, scanning the number of heads in the Great Hall, before pointing at someone past Sirius, who Remus couldn't see. 'That one?'

Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'Really? I thought you would have chosen Red.'

'Nah. Best not drench her in pumpkin guts before asking her out.'

'You still gonna go through with this, James?' Remus asked incredulously. 'Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think Lily's too fond of you.'

'Oh come on. I give the girl a hug every time I see her.'

'And every time, she looks like she's going to spit acid.'

James shrugged. 'Maybe it's her way of showing affection.'

'If that was the case, she'd be a basilisk.'

James got a slightly dreamy look. 'You're right. Killer eyes, those.'

'That's not what I-'

'Action time!' Sirius cut over them. 'Go, go, go!'

Sirius and Peter both pulled out their wands and pointed them at the crate. '_Wingardium Leviosa!'_

James turned to Remus. 'Pumpkins!'

'Pumpkins.'

He gave a satisfied nod, and turned back to the Great Hall, pulling out his wand. Remus got out his own and started muttering a few spells.

Yells soon ensued. The reason? Giant pumpkins, small pumpkins - pumpkins of all sizes were falling from the ceiling and exploding everywhere. Disappointingly, no one hit by stray vegetables because they disintegrated into golden dust midair, showering everyone in it. It was still satisfying, though.

James waved his wand and shouted a little, and fireworks began exploding near the ceiling. They went off at rapid fire, and all of the rainbow colours began forming words.

_Go out with me, Evans?_

Remus peered into the entrance hall, where he could see Lily at the Gryffindor table, looking furious. Something told him she knew just _who_ had set off those fireworks.

Suddenly, a crash followed by a scream capped everything. Sirius and Peter laughed and high-fived each other. Remus looked to see what had happened, but before he could, he was shoved aside.

Literally on the verge of tears and covered in pumpkin guts, Kayla ran out of the Great Hall and up the staircase, out of sight. Remus felt his stomach drop like a stone. Oh God.

He whirled on the other three. 'You _idiots_!'

Sirius blinked. 'What?'

Not even bothering to reply, Remus turned and ran after her.

* * *

'Kayla! Come on, Kaye! Where are you?'

Remus climbed onto the staircase leading up to the Astronomy tower, left with no other choice. He had checked both the library and the common room, and all of the abandoned Transfiguration classrooms on the third floor. He had figured that this was the only other place she could have gone without getting caught.

He paused suddenly, hearing a slight noise. He could hear it properly now; crying. Biting his lip, Remus ran the rest of the way up into the tower and skidded onto the wooden balcony. He looked around and followed the noise. 'Kayla?'

There came a muffled response: 'Oh, go away!' Remus was surprised he got a response at all, really.

He turned a corner to find Kayla sitting against the wall, her knees drawn up into her chest. She still had pumpkin seeds in her hair. She glared at him through red eyes. 'Come to have a go at me, huh?'

Remus frowned. 'No. Why would I have a go at you?'

'You were quite happy to dump all of _this_ on me.'

He shook his head slowly, then sat down next to her. He brushed the seeds out of her braid and put a hand under her chin, making her look at him. 'That wasn't me. That was the other guys.'

She snorted. 'Oh sure. And you just stood by while they did that?'

He shook his head again. 'I didn't even know who they were going to do it to. I was doing other stuff.'

'Like what?'

'The, uh, exploding pumpkins.'

Kayla looked down at her feet as another tear traced its way down her cheek. 'You're an arse, you know that?'

Remus sighed slightly. 'Sometimes I think I need to be told.'

'I – I was starting to think that we might actually become friends, but . . . I wouldn't know what to expect. So, I guess if I ever thought it before, I was wrong.'

'Don't be silly. Why shouldn't we be friends?'

'Because I'm the person that nobody likes. I don't even know what having a friend feels like.'

Remus slipped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her in next to him. Her eyes widened at this foreign gesture.

'It feels like this,' he said.

Kayla hesitated slightly, thinking. Then she began to relax, and put her hand around his waist, resting her head on his shoulder.

'I think I like this,' she murmured after a few minutes.

'So are we friends?'

'I – I think so.'

'I'll need a more solid answer than that.'

'Okay. We are.'

Remus grinned. 'So, what brought you up here?'

Kayla turned slightly pink. 'I . . . like Astronomy. It's my favourite subject, because I like looking at the stars, the constellations.'

'Show me.'

She pointed up at the sky with her free hand. 'There's Pegasus.'

'Where?'

'Look.' She took hold of his wrist and directed his pointing finger to the constellation. After a moment, he could see it. 'Ah.'

Kayla smiled slightly. 'They're amazing things, the stars.'

Remus grinned and looked at her, her face glowing slightly in their light. 'Yeah.'

* * *

**Aww. They're so cute. And James obviously has a thing for Lily. Haha.  
**

**Okay guys, I'm not updating until I get some reviews. It only seems fair. I _know_ there are people reading this, and besides, I've been asking you guys questions the last few chapters. Like so:**

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	7. Year 1-The Full Moon

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**Annie (Guest) . . .**

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* * *

_**7 - The Full Moon  
**_

**Marlene**

'Dare you to hex Diggory.'

Sirius looked at her and grinned. 'Have you ever had a better idea?'

'Bet you couldn't.'

'Which one? The hexing, or having a better idea?'

'Both.'

'Oh, you're on!'

Their whispered conversation went unnoticed by both Professor Binns and the rest of the class, who had drifted into a sort of stupor. Marley jabbed a finger towards the other side of the room, where Amos Diggory was lounging back in his seat and flashing an occasional grin at the pink cheeked girl next to him.

'Well? I want to see something done about his pretty face.'

Sirius snorted. 'Pretty? As if. I'm better looking than him.'

'Self-absorbed much?'

'I have the right. You see, if I wasn't good looking, and I claimed that, we'd have a problem. Kinda like Diggory over there. He's a _complete _pig. But I _am_ good looking, so I can go and say that rather easily.'

Marley rolled her eyes. 'Alright, fine. But I don't see any hexing going on.'

Sirius grinned at her and slipped his wand out of his pocket, holding it under the table. He muttered a quick incantation that Marley didn't hear. There was a loud _crack_ and everyone snapped out of their daze, looking around.

_REEEEEEEEEET!_

Marley blinked. Sitting in Amos' chair, was a pig. A big, hairy one, mind you. The pig leapt out of the chair and tore around the room, upturning desks and sending screaming students flying. Most of the girls had vacated their seats and were making a beeline for the door, wailing something incoherent. The girl that had been next to Diggory looked horrified.

Professor Binns looked up from his notes, followed the pig with his transparent eyes for a few seconds, then looked back down and continued in a drone. Sirius laughed and Marley high-fived him. James came running over to them. 'Was that you guys?' he asked through strangled laughter, his eyes watering.

'Sirius,' Marley choked out, laughing just as hard. '_All_ Sirius.'

'It – was – your idea,' Sirius interjected, also having a fit.

'_You_ – did it, though.'

Sirius looked as though he was trying to decide how to respond to this statement, however he was still laughing too hard to piece something coherent together.

_Bang!_

Everyone whipped around to see Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway, looking furious.

'Professor Binns,' she asked, her voice deadly quiet. 'Why is there a _pig_ in your classroom? It's making enough of a racket that it is disturbing the class I am trying to teach downstairs.'

Binns looked up sleepily at Professor McGonagall. 'Pig?'

She flicked her wand, and with another crack and a puff of smoke, Amos was sitting on his backside in the middle of the classroom, looking stunned. He managed something intelligent sounding that came out like, 'uduh?'

McGonagall shot a suspicious look and James and Sirius, who were within speaking range of each other, before turning on her heel and leaving.

Marley exhaled, a grin spreading over the innocently blank expression she had been wearing moments before.

'I think she suspected you, mate,' James muttered jokingly. Sirius let out a bark of laugher. 'I do too. Though you looked a bit guilty, James.'

'But it wasn't _me _for once.'

'Ha. For once.'

* * *

**Remus**

'Come along, child.'

Remus followed Madam Pomfrey out into the sunset, down the slope of the hill, and all the way to a tree by the forest, the whole time trying to ignore the splitting pains in his chest. The Whomping Willow creaked slightly as it detected people approaching, but with an impatient wave of her wand, the still-growing tree went still. Remus was beginning to grow used to this procedure as he had done it twice before, but he still found it queer that the school had grown a deadly tree just for his personal use. Not that he was complaining, though. He was eternally grateful to Professor Dumbledore for going to such measures in order to ensure the safety of so many lives, while also allowing Remus to have an education.

He walked over to the boy-sized hole in among the roots, and gave one last look at Madam Pomfrey, who's face was ashen grey. 'Do try to take care,' she murmured. Remus gave her a weak smile, then lowered himself down the hole.

Dirt tumbled from the roof of the tunnel in powdery showers as he made his way through it. He brushed some of it out of his hair and gave a small yelp as another spasm went through his chest.

After a minute or two, he came to the wooden steps that lead up to the inside of the Shrieking Shack and emerged into the dusty bedroom. The sheets were shredded and the bedframe splintered from his previous visits. With a small sigh, Remus strode over to the bedside table and pulled open the drawer. He quickly pulled off his jumper and folded it neatly, setting it inside. He shivered from the cool breeze filtering through the cracks in the walls, but stripped another layer of clothing all the same. There was no point in allowing it to be destroyed when he could just as easily prevent it.

Another wave of pain shot through him, tightening his chest and causing his legs to tremble. With a gasp, he collapsed against the bed, his hand just catching the frame and keeping him upright. He coughed into his other hand and drew it away to find blood, but that was something he was used to. It had to be expected when all of his insides were being shoved around more than they should be. He coughed again, inhaling more dust, and tumbled to his knees, his sweaty hand letting go of the frame. He fell onto all fours, coughing heavily and spraying the floor with blood. The shack steadily became darker.

It was at that point when the pain became unbearable. It was running though all of his systems and nerves; he could feel his spine clicking into a different shape and the strain on his face and lower legs as he felt himself morphing. His fingers began elongating into claws . . . and he began feeling disorientated. His mind was flickering between his own and that of his wolf counterpart's. A low growling escaped his throat instead of the groans of pain he had been previously letting out, and his vision sharpened.  
Then all at once, every single thought abandoned his mind.

And that was when the wolf howled towards the moon that he couldn't see.

* * *

**Kayla**

A wail rang through the grounds and Kayla looked up from her Transfiguration homework, startled. After a moment of surveying the completely black grounds, she shrugged and looked back down at the textbook, though her mind wasn't focused on it.

She was rather excited actually. For the first time this year, she was getting the opportunity to explore the castle without anyone being around. The Christmas holidays were quickly approaching, and Kayla was one of the few who had signed up to stay over the break. She couldn't have gone home if she wanted to, anyway. Her mum and grandparents were taking a holiday to Paris, but since she had been there so often, Kayla had refused the offer to join them this time round. Having the excuse "I need to study" really had its perks. You could definitely say that her mother was a very concerned person when it came to her grades.

Another howl could be heard in the distance, and Kayla got off her bed, fuming about 'wolves and their constant need to howl'. She slammed the window shut so hard that the glass rattled slightly.

At the same time, the dormitory door was pushed open and Lily came in, her hair coloured electric green. Her face was also an odd shade of red, evidently from the high blood pressure. All Kayla could do was blink.

Lily paused when she saw her and turned, if possible, even redder.

'James,' she said irritably, as if she expected that single name to make sense to Kayla.

'Um?' was all that she could say.

Lily sighed, and began ruffling through her trunk for her Charms textbook. 'He thought it would be funny to change the colour of my hair.'

'Here.' Kayla pulled out her wand and muttered an incantation, and very slowly, Lily's hair began to change back to its original colour. Lily grabbed a chunk between her fingers and examined it, before looking back up at Kayla, her expression grateful. 'Thanks.'

Kayla shrugged and started making her way towards the door. 'No problem.'

Before Lily could respond, she had pushed the door open again and was making her way down the staircase. At the bottom she almost ran headfirst into a grinning James.

'How's Evans?' he asked jauntily.

Kayla pursed her lips. 'Her hair colour is back to normal, no thanks to you.' She looked over his shoulder to see Sirius and Peter, both grinning just as broadly. 'Where's Remus?'

James shrugged, his smile fading slightly. 'Dunno. Haven't seen him since afternoon lessons.'

Kayla frowned. 'That's odd.'

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. 'What's it to you, Edwards?'

Kayla flushed slightly, but drew herself up to her full height. 'Nothing. You lot just never seem to be apart, that's all.'

He grinned. 'Nice that you've noticed.'

Kayla rolled her eyes. 'Thanks.' She pushed past them and made her way out into the common room, which was beginning to clear out due to the late hour. She plopped herself down on the couch in front of the fireplace and curled up like a cat, watching the flames dance around.

Damn, she was _tired_.

She wasn't sure what time she fell asleep, but she woke up to hear to Portrait Hole opening. The clouds had completely obscured the moon and the stars outside, and the clock on the wall across from her read 5:30. She looked back at the at the Portrait Hole to see a tired, scratched and bleeding boy stumble inside, rubbing one side of his face and yawning.

'_Remus?_'

Remus jolted violently and his startled eyes moved up to meet hers. 'Er, Kayla. Hey. What are you doing up?'

'Fell asleep,' she said tightly, getting up and crossing the room over to him. 'What happened?'

He shrugged her off. 'I'll be fine. Madam Pomfrey's had a look at me.'

'That doesn't explain anything.'

He sighed. 'Look . . .'

Kayla felt herself soften at how anxious he looked, and decided she would let it slide for the present moment. 'Okay, you don't have to tell me. Yet.'

He relaxed slightly, and a purple bruise over his eye was thrown into a more prominent light coming from the hearth. Kayla gave him a stern look.

'You need some sleep,' she said bluntly. 'Come on.' She grabbed him gently by the wrist and tugged over to the boys' staircase, and quietly led him up it. She pushed open their dormitory door and decided to temporarily ignore the disgusting mess that greeted her, walking over to what was obviously Remus' bed. Meaning the unoccupied one. Remus stumbled slightly on the trip there, and she caught him under the arms just as he reached the bed. He quietly thanked her and climbed under the doona. Kayla allowed herself to gently brush her fingers over a slice on his cheek that had been partially healed, but had split from overexertion. He smiled weakly, the desperate need to sleep obviously setting in. 'Night, Kaye,' he whispered. Kayla smiled lightly in return, and turned to leave.

'Night, Rem.'

* * *

**Question: Favourite Harry Potter ship?  
**

**My Answer: Jily. It's what got this whole story started!**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	8. Year 1-Christmas

**I'm back, my lovelies!**

**I'm sorry this took a while. But now, I have beta-ing on my plate, and I love it. **

**Anywho, reviews are loved.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**8 - Christmas**_

**Sirius**

Soon enough, it had reached the point where the Christmas holidays had finally started. Large crowds of students were all gathered together at Hogsmeade station and were getting on the train to go home for the holidays. Or in Sirius' case, his holiday home.

Sirius hadn't really experienced the best upbringing. He had always hated his parents and their pure-blood mania, and the fact that the lot of them were loyal to Slytherin. His whole family tree, dating as far back as Hogwarts went, were all Slytherins. And, naturally, when he was sorted into Gryffindor, that hadn't sat too well with them. The howler he had received mere days after arriving also reinforced that point.

James, being the great mate he was, had figured that out for himself, and when the issue of Christmas finally did come around, he didn't even have to think about what Sirius was going to do. He wrote to his parents straight away, asking if he could stay with them. The Potters had responded quickly and enthusiastically, delighted at the idea of James having a friend over for the holidays. And so, this was probably going to be the best Christmas that Sirius had ever had. Not as though that was saying much.

'Sirius, I swear, if you don't get off your arse any time soon and clear up some of the junk you might need, I'll smack you over the head with a book and have Remus adopt you instead.'

Sirius looked up at James from his magazine with a grin. 'Aww, come on James! All I need is a toothbrush. The rest I can live without. Besides -' He showed James the page he was looking at.

James leaned in close, inspecting it. His eyebrows travelled up his forehead incredibly quickly.

'What _are_ those?' he asked incredulously.

Sirius flashed him a grin. 'Motorbikes.'

James straightened up, giving him a _yeah-you're-crazy-but-I'm-not-entirely-sure-that-you-know-it_ look. 'Right.'

Sirius gave a barking laugh and jumped up from his bed, shoving the reading material into a rucksack. 'Right then. Are we off?' James grinned. 'Yep. As soon as I find Evans, anyway.'

As it turned out, Lily wasn't all that hard to find. She was down at the station with Marley, waiting for some of the crowd to clear up so they could get on the train without being run over.

'Marley!' Sirius called, waving his arms about wildly. Both girls turned – a look of irritation crossing Lily's face, while Marley beamed brightly. 'Sirius! James!'

'You look like a flightless bird,' Lily informed Sirius dryly. He only laughed.

'Evans!' came a yell from behind him. Lily groaned audibly.

'What do you _want_, Potter?'

'Why, I just wanted to wish you a merry Christmas!'

'Yes, yes, thank you, it's done and dusted, now will you go away?'

James feigned a look of hurt. 'Why Evans, you wound me.'

'Oh, come on James,' Sirius said, laughing. 'We'll never find a compartment at this rate.'

'Right-o then.' Without further ado, he swept Lily into what appeared to be a bone crushing hug, before be turned back to Sirius. 'Let's go.'

'Bye Marls,' Sirius said, clapping her on the shoulder. Marley laughed. 'See you around.'

* * *

**Kayla**

Kayla sighed happily, unable to keep herself from grinning. She had this _whole_ castle to herself. As it turned out, no one else was staying over the holidays. Save the teachers, anyway. But the point was, she could go exploring without worrying about anyone being around. She would get to find out what it felt like to be a Marauder, in the finding-secret-passageways-and-rooms sort of way.

And so, the adventure started here. The vibrant orange glow of the setting sun was quite happily poking through the windows and into her eyes, partially blinding her. But she didn't really care. She ran along the seventh floor, away from Gryffindor Tower. She figured that she could work her way downwards.

She walked with her hand against the wall, feeling around for any invisible doorways or secret entrances.

About fifteen minutes later, the sun had set completely, and all that Kayla had managed to find was a tapestry of someone called Barnabas the Barmy, who had apparently taken on a desire to train trolls to perform ballet. Kayla stood, looking at the tapestry with wide eyes as Barnabas was clubbed repeatedly over the head by his students. Shaking her head incredulously, she turned around.

Yes, it was a blank wall. But there was something about it. Frowning, Kayla crossed the corridor and rested both hands against it, feeling the rough stone. There didn't really appear to be anything queer to it, it just had a noticeably magical feel.

Then her stomach began rumbling, so Kayla made a mental note to return to this spot the next day, and began her long trip down to the Great Hall.

* * *

**Sirius**

Sirius began loading his plate up with roast chicken and gave a thumbs up. 'Looks great, Mrs P.'

Dorea smiled warmly at him. 'Thank you, dear. And, please, call me Mum.'

He grinned at his three friend seated on both sides of him. 'Good enough for me.'

It was Christmas Eve, and both Remus and Peter had joined them for lunch. After this, Peter was going to stay for the remainder of the holidays, but he wasn't sure what Remus was doing.

'You mean that the food's good enough for you,' Remus interjected slyly.

Sirius flashed him a grin. 'Absolutely.'

The whole table burst into laughter at that.

'How has your term been so far?' Charlus asked when they all had finished, setting down his cutlery. 'I hope that James hasn't been causing too much trouble?'

'Dad!' James groaned. Sirius laughed.

'Absolutely not, sir, absolutely not.'

'Seconded,' Peter piped up.

'Am I the only one who can say otherwise?' Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sirius put a hand over his heart and gave a loud gasp of mock surprise. 'You wouldn't, Remus!'

Cue another round of laughter.

'Are you sure, Sirius?' Remus asked once he had also calmed down slightly. 'Some of the stuff I've seen you do . . .'

'Ah, but you see, Remus, _you_ have also taken a part in this "stuff". We will drag you down with us.'

'Fair enough.'

Half an hour later, the plates were cleared up and Remus was half way out the door.

'Are you sure you don't want to stay the night?' Dorea asked. Remus shook his head.

'Thanks for the offer, but my parents have arranged for me to stay at school while they're away. It's easy enough to do.'

'How are you getting there?'

He shrugged slightly. 'I'm taking the Knight Bus to Diagon. There's a Floo network being set up for me. I'll be okay.'

Dorea's face relaxed slightly, and she gave a small smile. 'Alright then. Be safe.'

Remus smiled back. 'Don't worry. I will.' With that, he hugged each of his friends goodbye, and left.

* * *

**Kayla**

Kayla was growing used to dining with the teachers. After all, she had spent most of the holidays being the only student in the castle, and because of that, it wasn't like she was going to be made to eat at a table all on her own. And it was on this Christmas Eve, that she felt particularly privileged. It wasn't often that you got to see Professor Dumbledore pull Christmas crackers with everyone at the table, chuckling merrily at the various gifts that exploded out of each one. And it _certainly_ wasn't often that you could see McGonagall and Hagrid easily getting through several glasses of red wine, becoming increasingly more tipsy with each one. Uh, _yeah_. Very few people have the honour of witnessing that.

And when it was all over, Kayla wasn't ashamed in the least to feel disappointed that the time had disappeared so quickly. She arrived back at the Portrait Hole when it was almost eight, and didn't even have to give the password. The Fat Lady had invited over her friend Violet, and they had both apparently demolished a large supply of liquor chocolates. When they saw her, they both giggled and muttered something incoherent, before the portrait swung open. Rubbing her eyes tiredly, Kayla stepped through.

'Is there room for two tonight?'

Kayla almost screamed. Standing right in front of her, wrapped up in snow flecked outerwear, was Remus.

What was the politest way of putting this? She barrelled straight into him. Damn, she was so happy to see him. Remus let out a slight grunt and a gentle laugh, wrapping his arms around her.

After a moment or two, Kayla popped her head above the material, looking straight at him. 'What are you doing here?'

'My parents have abandoned me,' he said jokingly. 'And besides, I wanted to spend my first Christmas here with you.'

Kayla practically melted.

'Aww. You are _awesome_, you know that?'

He grinned. 'If you say so.'

'You are.'

'Alright then. What do you say about roasting marshmallows?'

'Sounds good.'

And so, if you came back half an hour later, you would see two first-years cuddled up together in front of the fireplace, completely knock-dead asleep, with a packet of half eaten marshmallows sitting forgotten nearby.

* * *

**Lily**

'Come _on_, Lil. I said I'd meet up with them.'

Lily exhaled heavily. 'But _Marley_ . . . you know what they're like.'

Marley folded her arms. 'But they're my friends. Please?'

Lily chewed her lip thoughtfully. 'Okay, fine. We'll find them.'

Marley grinned. 'You're fabulous.'

The two girls were sitting on a bench at King's Cross, the day before term was due to restart. On Boxing Day, Lily had stayed at Marley's house for the remainder of the holidays. The problem was, now that they were here, Marley wanted to see the Marauders. Lily had objected instantly, but Marley was so desperate to see them, that she caved in.

Marley grabbed her hand and stood up. 'Come on. They should be here soon.'

Lily grumbled.

'Marley!'

They both turned around to see James, Sirius and Peter coming towards them, grins evident on their faces

Lily sighed. 'Okay, I'm off. I'm sure Sev will be here soon.' Marley pursed her lips, but otherwise nodded. Lily gave a hug for their temporary goodbye, and ran off.

* * *

**Question: Who is your favourite character in this story?  
**

**My Answer: Kayla. Even though Marley is more like me in personality, the way I created her was just . . . perfect.**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	9. Year 1-Broken Shoulders & Deadly Statues

**Back again, you wonderful people. I love you already.**

**How about it? I did this _whole_ chapter today, plus half a chapter for another story. I'm so proud, because I also read three quarters of a book, and I didn't even intend to to all this, and now I'm just rambling on. *grins***

**Cheers!  
**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**9 - Broken Shoulders And Deadly Statues  
**_

**Lily**

'How come I don't get to see you much anymore?'

Sev shrugged, leaning back in his seat. 'We're in different houses. It can't really be helped, I guess.'

'We're still best friends though, aren't we?'

'I . . . uh, yeah. But what about McKinnon? Isn't she your friend?'

Lily nodded. 'Yes. She is.'

'Better than I am?'

Lily halted. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Well, you spend a lot of time together, don't you?'

She frowned. 'Yes, but that doesn't mean I think she's better than you are.'

'Oh. Okay.'

The silence became awkward, and Lily fidgeted in her seat, unsure of what to say. Sev had become rather distant ever since they came to Hogwarts, and though she didn't notice at first, she could see it now. Though she supposed him spending time with his friends was a lot like her spending time with Marley; they were in the same house and had more opportunities.

But Sev was changing. She didn't know if that had something to do with the distancing, but he wasn't the same boy she had met two years ago at the park. Whenever he was mean, he usually did it unintentionally, but now he did it deliberately. It was like in order to fit in, he had to act as unpleasant as the rest of his friends. Lily didn't like it. Not one bit. But she didn't want to say anything, as she didn't want to hurt his feelings. She didn't know what to do.

* * *

**Kayla**

Feeling very aware of the time, Kayla made one last desperate dash back to the strange wall. Remus was quite occupied by having a shower, and she wanted to try and figure it out before everyone got back.

She found the place opposite the tapestry and rested her hands against the stone once more. She had been doing this ever since noticing it on Christmas Eve and was determined to figure it out. She pulled out her wand and said a spell she had discovered the night before.

'Reveal your secrets.'

Nothing happened. Typically.

Right. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Kayla backed up, and with a yell, rammed into the wall with all the power she could muster.

_Crack_.

She coughed and stumbled back, spots dancing in her eyes. The pain shooting through her shoulder was almost unbearable. Her arm tumbled limply to her side, and that unintentional action alone hurt like hell.

Did she just . . . did she just _break_ something?

She blinked back tears and took a shaky breath.

'Okay,' she muttered. 'Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow, _ow_.'

Right. Hospital wing. El pronto. She stumbled on now-shaky legs back down the corridor to the Portrait Hole, from which she could take a nice, short path to Madam Pomfrey. Though how she was going to explain this, she didn't know. _Hi, I'm Kayla and I like to run into walls._

Fun. Happy days. She was _so_ screwed. Insanity wise, anyway. It's a freaking _magic_ school. You can't knock walls apart from brute force. Geez.

'Kaye?'

Oh, _God_.

'Hey, Rem,' she muttered, trying not to wince. 'Have a nice shower?'

Remus came up beside her, frowning when he noticed her limp arm straight off the bat. 'I leave you alone for fifteen minutes – _fifteen minutes_ – and you've already done damage to yourself.' He shook his head. 'What _am_ I going to do with you?'

'Okay, buddy,' Kayla said, growing irritated. '_You, _if anything, are going to escort me to the Hospital Wing. I trust Pomfrey with her healing powers more than I do you.'

Remus cracked a grin. '_Someone_ isn't too happy.'

'Yeah, yeah. Move it or lose it.'

* * *

**Remus**

Kayla is not the happiest person when she's injured, Remus decided. And though he knew he should be acting more worried than he was, it was rather amusing to see what you had to do to make her snap at you. Wow. He felt a bit like James when it came to that.

Anyway, three or so minutes later, they turned up at the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey apparently wasn't expecting patients so early in the term. Remus pushed open the doors and stepped inside first.

'Mr Lupin?' Pomfrey said, coming over. 'What is it? It's not time yet –'

She cut off sharply when Kayla stumbled in, her arm swinging around dangerously. Kayla raised her eyebrows as she heard the last bit of the statement, and Remus felt himself pale slightly.

'What on _earth_ did you do, child?' Pomfrey cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

'I ran,' Kayla said, flopping onto one of the beds, now holding her arm safely against her chest to prevent further damage, 'into a wall.'

Pomfrey sighed and disappeared into her office, bringing out a clipboard. She walked over to Kayla and began prodding various points in her shoulder, muttering spells. Kayla screwed up her face slightly, wincing from the pain. Remus walked over and sat down in the chair beside her bed. He smirked when she mumbled a feeble 'shut up'.

'Now,' Remus started. 'I don't think we'll be running into walls again anytime soon, will we?' She gave him a particularly rude hand gesture with her working arm and he burst out laughing.

* * *

**Sirius**

'Okay, your turn,' Sirius said, watching Binns out of the corner of his eye.

Marley raised an eyebrow. 'Oh?'

'I don't think we have enough Gryffindor supporters for the Quidditch match tomorrow.'

Marley grinned, getting the message. She slipped her wand out of her pocket and held it underneath the desk, and began muttering some incantations.

The first thing Sirius noticed was the group of Slytherins at the other end of the round room. They were all dressed in their school robes, lounging about and talking casually, not even trying to _look_ like they were listening. The fibres of their black clothing began to slowly change colour, like adding ink to water. One of them noticed after a moment, and pointed in shock at his friend's robes. Slowly, everyone else's began to change too.

Now, the floor was looking as though someone was using an invisible paintbrush on it. Sirius grinned as the colour was spreading quickly and efficiently. The next second, the curtains had changed in the same way that the robes did.

Sirius grinned as he looked around, and Marley stifled a giggle. For now, everything in the room had the design of a red background, a yellow lion, and the text "Go Gryffindor!" printed on it.

Professor Binns looked up, slightly stunned, as chaos ensued.

Aaaannd, it wasn't entirely a surprise that they were in Professor McGonagall's office five minutes later.

* * *

**Lily**

'Evans?'

Lily looked up from her homework, feeling slightly hostile. 'Yes?'

Potter looked as though he were contemplating asking her something; an actual, serious question for once. She waved her hands in a small "go on" motion.

He seemed to finally make up his mind, and shook his head. 'Never mind.'

And with that he disappeared, leaving Lily feeling slightly confused.

* * *

**James**

'Mr Potter, please perform the appropriate charm required to change the colour of this statue.'

James swallowed quietly. He _knew_ he should have asked Evans last night. Knew it. Trying to look as carefree as he usually did, he got up with a forced, but lazy grin and looked up at Professor Flickwick.

'Colour change, you say?'

'_Yes_, that is what I said.'

Feeling rather worried now, James pushed his sleeves up, still grinning. 'Right, everyone. Time to be amazed by my awesomeness.' Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Evans roll her eyes. That spurred him on a little more. He'd show her. He _could_ do Charms! Sometimes.

With that, he flicked his wand (a little haphazardly) and said 'Wingardium Leviosa.'

The statue rose off the table.

'No, Mr Potter!' Flitwick cried. James pulled the classic _oops_ face, and swung his wand to the left. The statue knocked the Charms professor clean off his pile of books. Blanching, he now swung to the right. This time it bowled Snivellus right over; not as though that was a loss in any way. Giving up completely, James dropped his wand and leaned away from it like it had caught fire. The statue dropped from the air and landed on Snivellus' head, splitting in two.

The whole class was in uproar, but all James cared about was if Evans was impressed. He had pulled off a levitation spell! His hopes fell when he looked around and saw that she wasn't impressed at all, but was making her way over to Snivellus, who was apparently knocked out cold.

'Back up, Mudblood,' another Slytherin spat. 'Keep your filthy paws away from him.'

'Oi!' James said. 'Watch your mouth, you pompous arse!'

The Slytherin – Avery – sneered. 'You're one to speak, Mr I-Have-An-Overlarge-Ego.'

'Shut up, the both of you,' Evans snapped. She kneeled down beside Snape and Avery kicked her. 'I _said_ back up!'

She jumped up, startled. James growled. That was it. He leapt forward and landed a punch right in Avery's mouth, feeling pretty sure he knocked out some teeth. He fell back and his head hit the desk. The cronies that were usually with him were nowhere to be seen. James turned back to Evans, who was blinking back tears.

'Are you o-,' he started.

'Oh, just _go away_!' she cried. She turned on her heel and stalked off, back to Marley. Marley gave him a look as though to ask 'what did _you_ do?' but she didn't say anything. Feeling irritable, James made his way back to his spot beside Sirius.

* * *

**Lily**

'Evans?'

Lily looked up from her homework a second time, recognising the voice and groaning inwardly. '_What?'_

Potter shuffled uncomfortably. 'I, uh . . . well, what I wanted to say was . . . you're good at it, and you don't send things flying . . . so could we start?'

Lily blinked. 'Wait. Hang on a second. Slow down,' she gave him a stern look, 'and _make sense_.'

Potter went slightly red – if that was even possible – and cleared his throat. 'Right. Um, well, as you may know, I'm not too fabulous at Charms, and I'm terrible, and I would like to get it right . . . meaning preventing more statue incidents -'

'Is this your extra-special way of asking for help?' Lily asked with a wry smile. He thought about it for a second before answering.

'Uh, yeah. Pretty much.'

'Well,' Lily said slowly, 'why don't you sit down? Nothing's going to get achieved if you just stand there.'

Potter hesitated, but sat down. 'Okay.'

'I could help you with Transfiguration, you know,' he said after a while, when Lily was halfway through explaining a hand motion. 'You're having trouble with it, aren't you?'

Lily cocked her head to the side feeling a bit surprised. 'What makes you say that?'

He shrugged slightly. 'It's just that you were working on those questions last night, too. I figured you were having a bit of trouble.'

'Ah, yes,' she said grinning slightly. 'Was this when you tried to approach me the first time?'

He grinned back, looking slightly more comfortable. 'It was actually, yes.'

'You could have just asked me then,' she murmured. The table they were sitting at was incredibly small, and they were close enough together as it was. Their foreheads were mere inches apart, and Lily was incredibly aware of that. She sat back slightly, feeling her cheeks go pink. There was a funny feeling in the bottom of her stomach, but she was sure Potter had nothing to do with it. Mostly.

* * *

**Ahh, what's this feeling Lily's starting to have, eh? Is it the C word? No, I don't believe in the C word. SO IT MUST BE THE L WORD. Haha. A guest pointed out that I didn't have enough James and Lily interaction, so I'm putting it in.  
**

**Question: Do you like the way I've been putting my characters together so far?**

**My Answer: Well, I can't really judge myself, so I'll leave you to tell me.**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	10. Year 1-Sirius' 'Logic'

**Hey!**

**Guess what! I can do responses to reviews again! I haven't done that since Calypso!**

**Jennifer (Guest): I never really actually considered Marley doing that, but the more I think about, the more I fall in love with it. In fact, if you stick with me, it may just happen . . . ;)**

**Fires of Black Chaos: I didn't necessarily mean pairings, I just meant characters in general, but hey, at least I know someone likes my pairings. And no, as of now, Sirius and Marley aren't a pairing, but if you hang around, you'll see what happens. **

** Earth. bound. wolf: Sirius, at this moment, doesn't have an interest in anyone. In his younger years, he is very dense and oblivious to people like Marley (and maybe Lily, except she isn't too friendly with them at this present moment. Maybe later) being a "girl", not just "one of the guys", you know? So he doesn't quite see them that way. Yet.**

**RdAwesomeness: Yes, I suppose the Marauders could count as one character, seeing that they work as a cohesive (and rather stupid *laughs*) unit.**

* * *

_**10 – Sirius' "Logic"**_

**Lily**

There was the sound of curtains being wrenched open, and the light made the inside of Lily's eyelids go red. With a groan, she reached up to rub her eyes, though not before she was pounced on.

'Happy birthday, Lil!'

She opened her eyes to find her vision obscured by forty kilos of Marlene McKinnon. 'Argh!'

Marley's hair was golden in the morning light, and curly strands of it tickled Lily's nose, making her want to sneeze. 'Good _morning_, sleepyhead. Now, come on. Up, up, _up!_'

Ah, yes. There it was. The usual morning greeting/ritual. At least that hadn't changed. Puffing out her cheeks, Lily put her arms out, waiting to be hauled up. Marley obliged accordingly. Her feet tumbled out of bed and onto the cold floor, and she stretched out, yawning. 'Right. So, _why_ did you wake me up?'

Marley's expression was incredulous. 'Lil. Really?'

'Hmm?'

'Are you that _dense?_'

'I will be furthermore enlightened if you tell me.'

Marley gave her a sharp jab to the chest. 'It's your birthday! Good _God_, woman!'

Lily blinked. 'Really? Is it back again so soon?'

'Yes, and do you want your present or not?'

Lily raised her hands in surrender, laughing. 'Okay, Marls, okay. Please don't kill me.'

Marley huffed, and retrieved a purple-wrapped gift from under her bed, shoving it at her. Written on the top in colour-change ink was: _From the best friend in all of eternity (meaning forever.) Seriously. You won't find another friend like me. So don't even try._

Lily laughed again. 'I know you are,' she told the other girl, who was looking rather smug. 'And I won't.'

She unwrapped the present to find . . . a box of owl treats. 'Um, Marley? I don't have an –'

'Ah, ah, ah!' Marley cried, wagging a finger. 'Just wait.' She went to the window and gave a shrill whistle. A minute later, there was a rustle of wings, and a ball of feathers flew into the room. Lily gave a small shriek. 'Is that - ?'

'A spotted owl, hand reared by a family friend?' Marley finished, still looking just as smug. 'Why, yes. Yes it is. Happy birthday, Lil.'

Lily grinned broadly and tackled her friend in a hug. 'Oh my gosh! You got me an owl!'

'What are you going to call her?'

'Her?'

'Well, yes. I really hope you weren't thinking she was a bloke.'

Lily took a step back and looked at the owl, thinking. She was coloured beautifully, brown with white spots, and a white breast. She looked at Lily with dark eyes. 'Grace. After you.'

'Really?' Grace was Marley's middle name. Lily looked back at her friend. Marley was trying to look modest, but she could tell she was pleased.

The bathroom swung open with a crash. Three guesses as to who it was. Whatever you thought, two of those guesses would be right.

'So, the brat's a year older,' Claire said, striding out, already pampered for an ordinary Saturday morning. 'We're _terribly_ excited, aren't we, Im?'

A response came from the bathroom. 'Huh?'

Lily looked past Claire to see Imogen perched on the bathtub, halfway through spraying her hair – red today. Claire pursed her lips slightly, and threw her hair over her shoulder. 'Anyway, must be off. Things to do, people to see . . . _Jameses to catch._' She threw open a second door; the one to the staircase, before turning around again. 'Imogen! Come on!'

'But, I'm not done yet!'

'_Now!_'

Grumbling, Imogen stood up and gave her hair a quick poke with her wand, tidying it up. She followed Claire out the door. Marley turned to Lily, looking disgusted.

'What was _with_ that? Jameses to catch? Eugh.'

'I do believe she has her eye on him,' Lily said, grinning slightly. 'Well, I wish her good luck with that. He's immature enough that she'll be lucky if he spares her a second glance. Is that not what eleven year-old boys do?' she added innocently.

'True, that.'

Marley went back to her bed and plopped down on it, while Lily stroked Grace and fed her a treat.

'I – er . . . um, ha- uh, hap-'

Lily turned around to see Kayla standing behind her, fidgeting nervously. She turned a little red. 'Happy . . . uh,' she took a deep breath. 'Happy birthday, Lily.'

Lily beamed. 'Thanks, Kayla.'

And just for good measure, she wrapped her up in a hug. Kayla made a noise of surprise, before hesitantly hugging her back.

'What, is it National Hugs Day or something? My turn.'

Lily broke off from Kayla and Marley barged past, also strangling her with a hug. She then stepped away, grinning at Kayla. The poor girl looked so overwhelmed she seemed as though she might pass out. All she had intended to do was wish Lily a happy birthday. She swallowed nervously and tucked a brown strand of hair behind her ear, before giving them both a quiet nod and leaving.

'Bet she's off to find Remus,' Marley commented. 'I think he gives better hugs than we do.'

Lily laughed.

* * *

**Sirius**

'You're crazy, James. She'll strangle you to death.'

James laughed, absently ruffling his hair. 'Nah. It's not like I'm going to make her mortally embarrassed in front of the entire school.'

'You are, actually.'

'Aww, come on, Sirius! It's just _Evans_. It's not like it's _Marley_ or anyone.'

Sirius shrugged. 'True.'

'So, I have fireworks to set off.'

'You're knowledge is only as extensive as fireworks, isn't it?'

James shrugged. 'They work, don't they?'

'I'm still surprised that you _knew_ it was her birthday.'

He grinned. 'Like I was going to forget!'

Sirius rolled his eyes. 'Stalker.'

'Oi!'

Sirius burst into laughter as James poked his head around the doorframe of the Great Hall. His eyes scanned up and down the Gryffindor table, before he grinned, which obviously meant he had found Evans. He flicked his wand, murmured an incantation, and roughly two seconds later, fireworks began whizzing out of his wand and into the room, exploding and forming brightly coloured words. James _could_ have been more original in Sirius' opinion.

_Happy Birthday, Evans!_

James hooted in appreciation and gave Sirius a double hi-five, grinning broadly. All of twenty seconds later, Evans stormed out of the hall, resembling a tomato rather well. James went to follow her, but Sirius grabbed his wrist.

'Mate, just leave it.'

James pouted.

'Why, _hello_, James. Fancy seeing you here!'

They both turned to see Claire Winters, shortly joined by Imogen Golden, who looked as though she had only done half a hair dye job today. Claire beamed radiantly.

'Uh, I'm here too,' Sirius said bluntly.

'I can see you,' Imogen muttered. 'I'm not blind.'

'I'm sorry, what was that?' Claire snapped.

'Nothing.'

'Thought so.' She turned back to James, the smile immediately making its way back on her face. 'I was just thinking –'

James cut her off. 'Well, it's been a pleasure seeing you ladies, but I need to go. I have an Evans to catch.'

'A _what?_'

But James didn't answer; he just turned around and waved back over his shoulder, grabbing Sirius by the wrist and leading him away.

* * *

**Kayla**

'I feel as though my life has just been tipped on its side.'

Remus looked up as Kayla plopped down in their book nest next to him. 'Hmm?'

'I just got _hugged_. By _two_ people!'

Remus gave a dramatic gasp, quickly putting a hand over her mouth. 'Say no more! You've just done the impossible, haven't you?'

Kayla wrenched his hand away. 'I'm sorry, _what?_'

'You haven't – dare I say it – acquired _friends?'_

Kayla blinked. 'No.'

Remus deflated slightly. 'Oh.' He thought for a moment, then brightened again. 'At least that means I'm still the most important person in your life.'

Kayla stifled a laugh. 'Someone's got a sense of his own importance.'

'But I'm right,' he prodded cheekily. '_Aren't_ I?'

She sighed theatrically. 'Yes. I suppose so.'

'Ah, let's hear it _again_.'

Kayla turned to face him. 'Remus Lupin,' she started, prodding him in the nose playfully, 'you are _the most_ important person in my life.'

He grinned. '_There_ it is. Come here, you.' He stretched his arms out in an invitation for a hug. Kayla shook her head.

'Nuh uh. What do you have to say?'

Remus pretended to think about it, obviously hiding a grin. 'Hmm. I'm not sure.'

Kayla rolled her eyes. 'There'll be no hugs, otherwise. Everything from me comes at a cost.'

He grinned. 'I know. I suppose that I should add that _you_ are also the most important person in _my _life.'

'_There_ we go.' She let him fling an arm over her shoulders and ruffle her hair with the other hand playfully. 'Are you addicted to all forms of platonic affection or something?' she asked teasingly.

Remus laughed and shook his head. 'I'm just making up for all the years you might have missed when growing up.'

'Fair enough. I'm not complaining.'

* * *

**Lily**

'Judging by your extremely disgruntled expression, I'm assuming James went through with that idea he's been buzzing about for days but I never thought he would actually go through with?'

Lily turned, her red hair hanging down one side of her face like a curtain. 'You guessed right,' she muttered.

'Maybe I should have warned you.'

'You could've.'

Lily stopped by a bench that had a nice view of the clear sky, and sat down. A breeze went through the courtyard, gently tousling their hair. Remus seemed to be thinking for a moment. 'You could punch him. That would set him straight.' He sat down on one side of her.

'Remus!' Kayla said, sitting down on his other side and giving him a light smack over the head. 'No –' She did it again. '- encouraging –' And again. '- _violence_.' She finished with a final whack. 'Especially against your friends.'

Remus shrugged. 'James is my friend, and Lily is too. Isn't it okay to be the one who is being the influence of all these things?'

Kayla rolled her eyes. 'You're impossible.'

'Guys.' Lily clicked her fingers in front of them, feeling impatient but amused. 'You can continue with your lovey-dovey business later. What am I going to do about James?'

Remus and Kayla both turned a hearty shade of pink, and Lily smirked inwardly, feeling victory. Remus was here because he had gathered what had happened in the Great Hall this morning, and Kayla was here because . . . well, wherever Remus was, she generally was too, now. Lily was surprised that she and Marley hadn't terrified her to a point where she had gone and jumped into the Black Lake. Not that she was complaining, of course, but still. They had been rather forward this morning considering the girl was practically a social recluse. Remus didn't count. He was a boy, and that didn't really need elaborating on. Lily could already see their future laid out before them, and that was surprising considering that they were all eleven (or twelve in Lily's case) at the present moment.

'Well,' Kayla said. 'You could tell him straightforwardly that he's bugging you.'

'He's too dense.'

'All right then.'

'This is where punching him miraculously becomes an amazing idea,' Remus interjected.

Kayla pulled a face. '_No_.'

'You're so violent, _Remus_,' Lily said, laughing.

* * *

**James**

'Where's Remus?' Peter asked.

Sirius shrugged. 'Lily's probably dragged him off to plot James' murder.'

James groaned. 'Well, that's just great. I really should take a new angle, shouldn't I?'

Sirius nodded. 'True, but where's the fun in that? You see-' He grabbed an unsuspecting Marley by the wrist and pulled her into his side, giving her a "friendly" hug. Apparently this point needed physical demonstration, James decided. 'You see for example, if I liked Marley, and I bombarded her with some sort of prank every other day, I'd get a pretty sufficient reaction out of her, yeah?'

Marley blinked, looking very aware of the fact that Sirius' arm was still tightly wrapped around her waist. 'Okay . . .'

'_But_,' he continued, '- if I stopped, I wouldn't get those reactions. You see?'

James grinned. 'Sirius, buddy, you are a philosopher. What's a job you can take that means you get to sit around and enjoy yourself all day? I reckon you're pretty deserving of it.'

'Minister of Magic?' Peter put in.

James clicked his fingers, pointing at the smaller boy with a grin. 'There's your answer!'

'Anyway,' Sirius said, still continuing his grip on Marley, 'are you going to be a fool and take that "new angle"?'

James shook his head. 'Nah. I'd rather not, now.'

Sirius grinned. 'There's my mate that we all know and love.'

* * *

**How many times a day do I have to remind myself that they're ELEVEN?! I swear, it takes all of my self control not to make them sound older than they really are. Then I have to go 'THEY'RE ELEVEN YOU TWIT! BACK UP AND WAIT A COUPLE YEARS! AND YOU CAN TURN YOUR CAPS LOCK OFF NOW! There we go.'**

**Anyway, who likes Sirius' logic, guys? XD Can you imagine Marley's face, like "uh, can you let me go now?'**

**Question: Which character do you think is the most like you?**

**My Answer: Marley. I essentially based her personality off mine. Except for the early mornings bit.**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	11. Year 1-Confusion & Gobstones

**Hellooooo :)**

**Back again so soon? Lovely.**

**Jennifer (Guest): Thankyouuuu! Have an update! :)**

**Earth. bound. wolf: No, Sirius does _not_ know how to be around girls *shakes head, cackling at the thought***

**Fires of Black Chaos: Haha, yeah. I've created Kayla as that sort of person. Also, congrats on picking up that hint. ;)**

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**11 – Confusion and Gobstones**_

**Lily**

_Crash!_

'Argh!'

Lily looked up, completely dripping, to see James on his broomstick, hovering just above the giant, oak doors in the Entrance Hall.

'You prat!' she shrieked, groaning as she went to wring out her hair. 'What the _hell_ did you do that for?'

James flashed a grin that even she could see, especially considering he was so high up. 'Why, maybe I just felt like it, Evans!'

'So you stayed right above the bloody door, waiting for me to go out?'

'Got it in one! And I suppose it wouldn't be fitting to say your hair always looks like it's on fire. It's a bit too wet for that at the present moment.'

Lily groaned and turned around, stalking back up to the dormitory. She was _drenched_. With another slight grumble and a flick of her wand she used a drying charm to rid herself of water, and a few pressing charms later, she was relatively fixed up.

All she was asking for was to safely make it up to the girls' dorm. Alas, the fates weren't on her side today. Walking with her head down, she made her way along the seventh floor corridor, stopping abruptly when a pair of feet (wearing designer sandals) obstructed her view of the floor. Lily looked up, right into the furious face of Claire Winters.

'You've been avoiding me, Evans,' she said in a low tone. Lily almost stepped back, she was so surprised.

'What?'

'I _said_ you've been avoiding me. I've been searching you out for the last _week_, yet you keep running off, like the terrified little girl you are. You know what you've done, now tell me _why_.'

Lily blinked. 'What?' she asked again.

'Don't play stupid,' Claire snarled. 'You know that you've got him trailing desperately after you. But he wouldn't do that of his own accord. He's above _mudbloods_ like you. So, what. Did. You. Do?'

Lily sighed inwardly, and tried to push her way past. Claire's arm shot out, blocking her.

'Look,' Lily said irritably, her temper finally getting the better of her. 'I have absolutely _no idea_ who you are talking about, and you're obviously going crazy. Now let me through!'

Claire grabbed her wrist, squeezing so hard that Lily knew it would bruise. 'You little –'

'I thought picking fights was above you, Winters. I'm _sure_ this is something James would love to hear about.'

Claire's arm retracted back to her side in a millisecond, and she turned to glare at the newcomer. Sirius Black sauntered down the corridor, looking particularly unamused.

'What are you on about, Black?' Claire sneered. 'And besides, what would _you_ know?'

'A lot more than you. Now, scram.'

Claire drew herself up to her full height and stuck her nose in the air, pivoting on her heel and stalking off. Sirius came up beside Lily, looking irritated.

'She didn't seriously bash you, yeah, Evans?'

Lily rubbed her sore wrist but shook her head, and Sirius exhaled, clearly relieved. 'Good. I'd never hear the end of it otherwise.'

'From who?'

Sirius gave a half shrug, walking back up along the corridor. Lily hurried to catch up to him. 'James. He'd kill me if you got hurt.'

'_What?_'

'Face the truth, darl.'

Lily sighed. 'Look, whatever this . . . this _act_ is, you can tell him he doesn't need to hold it up any longer. I _know_ how much he hates me, and he doesn't really need to go out of his way every day just to prove it.'

Sirius snorted. 'I'm not an _owl_, Evans. Tell him yourself if it's so important to you.'

Lily glared. 'Alright, then. Be that way!' She sped up, towards the Gryffindor Tower.

'Don't I get a thank-you for the rescue?' Sirius called irritably after her. She groaned.

'Fine! You get points for that. Happy?'

'Mildly.'

'Good!' With that, she gave the Fat Lady the password, and slammed the portrait in his approaching face.

* * *

**Kayla**

'Hey, shortie!'

Without even intending to, Kayla looked up from her book. James, Sirius and Peter were coming up to her, all wearing matching looks of questioning. 'What?' she muttered.

'You seen Remus?'

She shook her head. 'No. Haven't seen him since lessons were let out.'

'Huh.' James flopped down on the couch beside her, flipping onto his stomach so he could see her properly. 'Weird.'

Kayla rolled her eyes. 'He disappears every once in a while. Seriously, I thought you would have noticed that.'

'I have.' James' expression was deadly serious. 'And I'm starting to wonder.'

Kayla closed her book, frowning. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

'Well -' Sirius sat down on the rug near her feet. Peter joined him. 'Don't you think it's getting a bit regular? I mean, I get the whole deal with him mum having dodgy health and all, but it's almost a routine, now.'

'We thought you might've had an idea,' James said. 'You two are practically a married couple, after all.'

Kayla choked. '_What?_'

'So he _hasn't_ told you,' Sirius pressed. 'Hasn't even slipped something by accident?' She shook her head. He leant forward slightly, one hand on the carpet beside him.

'Well, let's see.' Kayla took advantage of the situation to balance her copy of _The Lord of the Rings_ on the top of Sirius' head, and ignoring the sound of protest he made, she started thinking. 'This is practically a monthly thing, yeah?'

'Pretty much.'

'Well –' She hesitated, contemplating whether to divulge this piece of information. But they were Remus' friends. They had as much right as she did. 'I did catch him one time. Sort of.'

They all perked up at this, their expressions demanding for her to go on.

'A couple months back, I passed out on that couch for the night -,' she jabbed a thumb to where James was lying, ' – and at about five the next morning, pretty much just as the sun was about to come up, he came in, covered in all of these horrid scratches. I tried to ask him, but he didn't want to talk about it.'

A silence greeted her. Kayla studied each of the Marauders' faces, noting the shock etched into them. Finally, the quiet was punctuated by James sitting up violently and swearing. Sirius immediately joined him. Kayla's book tumbled off his head and landed in Peter's lap, who recovered from his moment of stunned vacancy to toss it back to her, apologising hurriedly when it smacked her in the face. Kayla rubbed the red mark on her nose and shrugged, putting it down by her feet. Finally, James turned back to her. 'You haven't got any ideas?' he asked desperately, the anger on his face now replaced with an anxious expression. Kayla shook her head mutely.

'I've been trying,' she said, 'but I haven't figured out anything yet. All I know is that Pomfrey seems to expect him a lot.'

'Blimey,' Peter said. 'You – you don't think _he's_ the one who's really sick?'

Kayla shrugged. 'At this moment, all we can do is guess.'

* * *

**Marlene**

The Easter holidays were nowhere near as enjoyable as the Christmas ones, due to the fact that exams were rapidly approaching and the added pressure the teachers were putting on was pretty close to cruel. Almost everyone stayed at school for these holidays, to make the most of the available time in order complete the tremendous piles of homework they had been set. And, of course, when term resumed, things were no better. The Marauders seemed to be the only people who were relatively laid back about it all. But, being the Marauders, who wouldn't expect that?

Of course, Marley wasn't as worked up about it as Lily was, though she did have enough sense to study every once in a while. She wasn't dense enough that she left things to the last moment, unlike _some_ people.

The offender in particular was sitting just across the Gryffindor common room with the rest of his clan (cough, cough, _Marauders_) thrashing James horribly in a game of Gobstones and giving very loud commentary to the group of infatuated girls surrounding them. Even at eleven, they were already turning into heartbreakers. Marley rolled her eyes. She had known it was going to happen from the start. They were just too good looking. Granted, that was just _wrong_ concerning James, and she didn't have that personal opinion of him (instead she'd heard it enough times from others), but with Sirius, it was pretty much true.

What she didn't get was why the sight was bothering her. It was just _them_, the two boys she had almost literally grown up with, surrounded by a group of stupid looking second year girls . . .

Oh.

Okay, then.

Maybe she did get it after all.

Or maybe she just wanted to complain.

One or the other, really.

With a huff, she got up from her table and made her way over to them. When she finally reached the sea of girls, she shoved her way through with a very loud 'VIP coming through. Come on, ladies, budge it!'

Sirius and James looked up from their game and grinned at the sight of her. 'There you are!' James cried. 'It's about bloody _time._ Now, come on. Help me beat Sirius.'

'Oi!' Sirius said indignantly. 'No cheating!'

'I'll distract him, eh, Jamsey?' Marley suggested with a grin. With that, she plopped herself on Sirius' lap, completely blocking his view of the game. Sirius made a noise of complaint and leaned to see past her, and she adjusted her position accordingly.

'Oh, come on, now!' Sirius cried. 'This isn't fair! I can't play the stupid game if I can't see it!'

Remus and Peter, who were spectating, sniggered. 'There's no rule against this, Sirius,' Peter said cheekily, high-fiving Remus as they howled with laughter. Sirius grumbled and crossed his arms, while Marley spared a look at the girls who were sitting on the floor around them, looking mutinous. She had enough time to give them all a triumphant smirk before turning back to the boys.

'Your turn, James,' she prodded. James calculated his move for a moment, before rolling a gobstone. He shot Marley a warning look, who got it just in time. She leant away just as James' stone quirted Sirius in the face with a foul smelling liquid, and burst into laughter with the rest of the Marauders as he began complaining loudly.

* * *

**Who thinks Claire Winters is a crazy psychopath? *raises hand*  
Oh, well. I made her. The blame can only be pegged on me.**

**Question: Crazy, unusual ships, or the ones that are canon?**

**My Answer: I usually roll with the ships that the author makes, but sometimes I have my own. *Grins* **

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	12. Year 1-The Exams & The Return

**Hello!**

**This chapter has taken a while. I'm sorry, but I was stubbornly refusing to update until I wrote the final chapter for my biggest story. And it's done! In all of its 56,182 word glory. I'm really proud. :)**

**Guest: Have an update and satisfy that desperation, eh? ;)**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Yes. Marley is fabulous. Because she is like me. :)**

**Jennifer (Guest): Thankyou! So, here's some jily, and . . . _maybe_. Hang on and find out. Haha.**

**Fires of Black Chaos: James and Marley make an entertaining duo to write. But - Sirius and Marley is even _more_ entertaining . . . ;)**

**Steph (Guest): Thanks for your review! You basically confirmed what I've been suspicious about for a while, and I went through and fixed a few little details. I'm really glad that you like it. It gives me this special, happy feeling inside.**

**Anyway, read, review and ENJOY!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**12 - The Exams And The Return  
**_

**Lily**

Lily took a deep breath. It was going to be okay. It was _just_ exams. It wasn't like getting into second year depended on it.

Actually, she realised, it did.

She felt sick, like she was going to pass out.

Merlin, she _hated_ exams. But she loved them at the same time, if that made any sense. She enjoyed that satisfied feeling she always got when finishing one, but the lead up to them was just too traumatic. She always wound herself up in circles being a hen about them, stressing over all the possibilities and potential for failure.

She hadn't failed anything _yet_, but she was afraid for when that moment finally came. This could come crashing down on her now, and she'd never make it into second year. What would happen to her then? Would she be cast out into the Muggle world, without her magic?

At that thought she started hyperventilating.

'Lil!' Marley's hand came out of nowhere and smacked her across the face, bringing her out of her thoughts. 'You're working yourself up again.'

Lily rubbed her burning cheek and gave Marley a reproachful look. 'I don't think you needed to slap me, though.'

Marley rolled her eyes. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures. Hey, look, it's Sirius!'

Lily turned to see the Marauders coming towards them, though she hardly understood how the lot of them classed as "Sirius".

Sirius grinned as he sidled up to them, Potter right on one side, Remus on the other. Peter hurried to catch up from a good distance away. 'Marley! Pumped for exams?'

Marley rolled her eyes. '_Sure_. But I know Lily is.'

'And how is our academic bird going?' Potter questioned, grinning. Lily felt herself go slightly green as another wave of nausea swept over her. She shook her head, clutching at her stomach. Potter raised his eyebrows, suddenly looking slightly curious.

'You alright?'

She shook her head again and hoped that spoke for itself.

He obviously realised he wasn't going to get a verbal response out of her, and turned to Marley instead.

'Pre-exam stress,' she clarified, rolling her eyes at Lily.

'_Merlin_, Evans. Really? How are you going to deal when OWLs come along?'

She glared, but Potter didn't even flinch. Instead, as casually as though she might be one of his mates, he put his hand on her forehead, feeling her temperature. Completely stunned, Lily didn't even think to slap him away.

'You're not coming down with anything,' he commented airily, finally withdrawing his hand. 'Eat some chocolate. It works wonders. Rem, you got any chocolate?'

Lily shook her head. 'No chocolate. Stupid stuff makes me sick. Well, _sicker_.'

Remus looked horrified. 'How can you _say_ that?' he cried. 'You can't – it's not – I –'

'Remus! _Chill_.' Kayla came up from behind him and bumped her shoulder into his. 'It's just chocolate.'

He shook his head vigorously. 'It's not _just_ chocolate. It's my life sustenance. You can't just go and call it _stupid._'

Lily gave a small laugh. 'Okay, Remus. I take it back. Chocolate isn't stupid. You can calm down now.'

Remus huffed indignantly just as Professor McGonagall opened the door to the Transfiguration classroom and ushered them inside.

* * *

**Marlene**

'See, Lil? That wasn't so bad.'

Lily pulled a face. 'Easy for you to say. You're not dreadful at Transfiguration!'

Marley shrugged. 'You could've done a James.'

Lily seemed to be contemplating this, before she shrugged offhandedly. 'I s'pose.'

'Done a _what?_' James came up behind them, the rest of the Marauder clan in tow. Marley poked her tongue out at him. 'Done a _James_. You know. All of the epic Charms stuff-ups you achieve?'

James grunted and turned his back to her, determinedly looking the other way.

'I think you just found a chink in his pride,' Sirius commented. Marley scoffed and rolled her eyes.

'_Please_. I know _all_ of his weaknesses.' At this, she sent Lily a pointed look that she didn't see, before casually slinging an arm around both Sirius' and James' shoulders and anticipating lunch, despite the fact it was only ten thirty in the morning.

James pulled a face. 'You do _not_ know my weaknesses. I don't have any!'

Marley started to grin. 'Oh, really? Would you like me to get on a table and shout them to the whole world, then?'

'_No!'_

* * *

**James**

Needless to say, Evans survived the rest of the exams without much more drama. And so, James didn't really have a need to go all healer on her again. Not that he wanted to or anything.

The Marauders were lounging out under their favourite beech tree by the lake, Sirius reabsorbed in his motorbike magazine and Remus occasionally looking over his shoulder and rolling his eyes. James smirked as he absently waved his wand, sending a gentle stream of bubbles out the end. Peter sat watching him, and blinked in surprise when one burst on his nose.

'One down,' Remus finally said. 'And, _how_ many to go?'

Sirius shrugged, still ogling the motorbikes. 'I wouldn't know.'

Remus huffed. 'Hate exams. Absolutely hate them. Can't wait 'til they're over.'

'But then we have to go home,' Peter pointed out.

Sirius groaned. 'Great.'

'Aww, cheer up, Sirius,' James said half-heartedly. 'You can come stay with me again.'

Sirius shook his head. 'Nah, I'll survive.'

Remus ruffled Sirius' shaggy hair playfully. 'Oh, come on. It'll be fine. If the crow gives you a hard time, give us a yell. We'll probably abduct you.'

Sirius gave a barking laugh. 'God, Remus. Really?'

He nodded. 'Really. If you hate it that much, we won't make you go back.'

Sirius grinned slightly. 'You're good mates, you know that?'

James grinned. 'Yeah. I know.'

* * *

**Kayla**

Kayla stared at her completed Charms test paper, looking at it, but not actually seeing anything.

Instead, her mind was working, trying to come to a conclusion.

She had something else to add to her list of things she wondered about Remus Lupin.

Last night, she had gone to Madam Pomfrey through a fit of vomiting, wanting something to fix it. The flu had swept through Hogwarts only weeks before, but it hadn't hit Kayla until just then. Lugging a bucket with her, she had pushed open the door of the Hospital Wing, paused to throw up again, and then stared around the vacant ward. The lights had been dimmed, and the steadily setting sun was casting long shadows on the floor.

'Hello?' she called. No one came to answer; not even a house elf.

Feeling confused, Kayla made her way over to the window and looked out. She could see two figures hurrying along the grounds, one older and considerably more matron-like. The other was a smaller, boy shaped figure. Even at a distance, Kayla could tell it was Remus.

She had frowned, confused. What was Remus doing out at sunset?

As she watched, the two shapes went to the Whomping Willow – the violent tree that had been planted when they first came to Hogwarts. The tree's swinging tendrils stilled suddenly, and the smaller figure disappeared in among the tree's roots.

Kayla blinked.

What?

Where did he go?

He didn't just disappear, surely.

She studied that area, waiting for Remus to pop up again. Nothing happened, and the older figure – Madam Pomfrey, she suspected – began walking back up to the castle.

Kayla had sat on the nearest cot and retched again, feeling confused. The acidic taste left in her throat didn't help, either. What was Remus doing? Why sit among the roots of a deadly tree for a while?

Suddenly, a house elf rushed into the ward, giving a small squeal when she saw Kayla.

'Is miss sick?' she asked, hurrying over to her. Kayla had given a small nod, and thrown up into her bucket – unintentionally, of course, but it reinforced the point. 'Very,' she confessed.

The elf nodded and ran to fetch an orange potion in a vial on a shelf across the room, bringing it back to her.

'Miss has the flu?' she questioned. Kayla nodded again. The elf passed the vial over to her.

'Drink in little sips,' she said, very seriously. 'Or miss may get more sick!'

Kayla took it gingerly and inspected it, before removing the cork and taking a small gulp. It had burned her throat and tasted horrible.

The Hospital Wing doors swung open suddenly, and Kayla jumped, the shock making her want to vomit again. Madam Pomfrey hurried in, pausing suddenly when she laid her eyes on Kayla.

After a moment, she shook her head slightly and bustled over, immediately going to check Kayla's temperature. 'What is it, child? The flu? I was sure I had already dealt with the last of it!'

Kayla shook her head and tentatively took a little more of the potion, her eyes watering as it went down. Pomfrey pursed her lips in disapproval. 'Very well. Stay here. I'll be back in a moment.'

Kayla had done as she asked, staying there and thinking about what she had just seen. Remus was just so . . . _confusing_. And the Whomping Willow? What was that about?

She had plenty of time to think at the present moment, but nothing was coming to her. She had quite a few details, but obviously not enough. If she wanted the full story, she'd have to ask Remus himself, and he obviously wasn't comfortable with that.

She gave a small, defeated sigh. Oh well. She tried, at least.

* * *

**Marlene**

'Please turn over your papers, your time is up. You may leave now.'

Marley grinned and flipped over her sheet of parchment, jumping to her feet and sprinting out of the classroom.

'We're done!' she cheered, jumping up and down like a maniac and grabbing and unsuspecting Lily by the arm, pulling her into the little celebratory party. 'No more exams 'til next year! Woo!'

Lily laughed slightly. 'Well, aren't _you_ happy.'

'Heck, yeah!'

She spotted James over the crowd, and bounded over to him. 'Jamsey!'

He turned around, his grin mirroring each of their own. 'No more exams!' He laughed and double high-fived Marley, who was still on the point of overexcitement.

'You know the best bit?' she questioned. 'We have a couple of days off!'

James cheered as the rest of the Marauders joined him, all sporting identical looks of euphoria.

'We got through alive!' Sirius cried. 'You know what this means, James?'

James crowed and slapped him on the back, before the lot of them ran off.

'Where'd they go?' Lily asked, looking genuinely confused.

Marley shrugged. 'Who knows?'

'I don't think I _want _to.'

'Good decision.'

* * *

**Lily**

The end of it all was coming too soon. Time seemed to fly, and before Lily knew it, it was nearly time to say goodbye.

As she walked down to the Great Hall with Marley, she looked around and drank in the sights for the last time before she had to go. The train was due to leave tomorrow, and the Leaving Feast was being held tonight. Lily was happy to be going home, but she knew she would miss the castle.

'Hope we win,' Marley said, tucking some golden-brown hair behind her ear. 'Couldn't stand it if the Slytherins did.'

Lily agreed, though she didn't say anything.

They entered the Great Hall and sat down in their usual spot on the bench, which, for some reason, meant Lily was stuck beside Potter. She didn't know why he was sitting over here instead of somewhere else, but for the sake of doing so, she didn't say anything. Thankfully, he didn't notice. Marley quite happily began loading up her plate with roast chicken. Lily looked around, then did the same.

After everyone had eaten all they could and the plates cleaned themselves, Dumbledore stood up, evidently to make a speech of sorts.

'I hope that the food was to your liking,' he said, his eyes twinkling. 'And now, in celebration of our seventh-years leaving, I think is the prime moment to award the House Cup.'

There was a scattering of applause as Dumbledore nodded and Filch passed the cup to him.

'In fourth place, with three hundred and eighty four points: Slytherin.'

Everyone clapped politely as the Slytherins glared sullenly, which dimmed it out pretty quickly.

'In third place, with four hundred and twelve points: Hufflepuff.'

The applause was slightly more enthusiastic this time, as the Hufflepuffs were evidently relieved they didn't come last, as they apparently had the year before.

'Second place, with four hundred and thirty points . . .'

Dumbledore paused, surveying them all over the top of his half-moon glasses. Lily's breath hitched, and the Hall was completely silent.

'Ravenclaw!'

The sound was deafening as the Griffindors screamed and hollered, jumping around and shouting so loudly that the rest of Dumbledore's speech was drowned out. Everyone was embracing each other and cheering, hats were being thrown in the hair, James hugged Lily, and everything was lost in the moment . . .

* * *

**Sirius**

The train whistle rang loud and clear over the commotion being made as everyone climbed onto the Hogwarts Express. Sirius leaned against a guard rail, a feeling of dread in his chest.

He was going back to the hellhole. Back to his horrible mother (if she could be called that) and his father, who was practically almost abusive.

At least Reg was there, he decided. His little brother was the only reason he hung around.

Regulus was the child their parents liked better, yet he was obedient, and followed what he believed was right, which was generally Sirius, but sometimes he swayed to the way of their parents. He was going to escape the house next year, with Sirius. He was going to go to Hogwarts, and get away. That thought made him feel a bit better; the prospect of coming back.

Another thought hit Sirius in a wave of dread. He was a Gryffindor. In a family of Slytherins. That wasn't going to go down well. It'd be worse than the Howler.

'_Sirius_. Come on, we're playing Exploding Snap.'

James elbowed him lightly in the side, wiggling his eyebrows knowingly. Sirius sighed. He couldn't resist Exploding Snap. He was the best at it, of course.

'Now I got you,' James teased, before grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him on the train.

Remus, Kayla/Shortie (he could never decide on an official name for her) Peter, Marley and Evans (he doubted she was here of her own accord) were already in a compartment, and when James brought Sirius in, they looked up from the game they were halfway through.

'_There_ he is!' Remus said, grinning. 'Bout time, Sirius. We were waiting!'

Sirius rolled his eyes, but he was also grinning. 'Sure, sure.'

* * *

**Marlene**

The train ride back home was actually enjoyable, Marley decided. She would be going back to her estate/mansion/giant-house-that-she-seriously-didn't-need-and-her-parents-enjoyed-using-their-large-sums-of-money-but-hey-at-least-she-had-a-huge-room. It was alright, she guessed.

But she felt really guilty for leaving Sirius with his family. Marley knew them, and they didn't really like anyone very much, but they still had their high and rich status. If James wasn't going to do so, maybe she could adopt him for the holidays. Hmm

If there was one thing boys never seemed to get tired of, it was Exploding Snap. They played for almost the whole trip back, and when the trolley lady came along, Marley and Lily had to get up and buy the food so they could feed their faces. About halfway through, Lily left and went off to find Snape, and her leaving practically went unnoticed. And so, to continue being a social person, Marley struck up a conversation with the only non-addicted-to-snap-person/girl in the compartment, which was Kayla.

It was actually a good way to travel.

The train pulled up at King's Cross all too soon. As the realisation as to where he was going set in, Sirius' face darkened and he grudgingly went to grab his trunk. In an attempt to cheer him up, Marley spoke.

'Aww, come on Sirius! Cheer up. Whaddya say about a group hug?'

Sirius went slightly red as everyone in the compartment contributed to that proposition all too enthusiastically, and he was caught in the middle of a tangle of arms. At least she got him laughing.

Five minutes later, everyone was out of the train and on the platform, seeking out their various family members and going their own ways. As Marley made her way over to her parents, she waved multiple goodbyes, and decided that this wasn't a bad way to leave. She'd be back before she knew it, and that was a fantastic prospect in itself.

* * *

**First year's over, guys!  
**

**Man, writing a flashback that isn't really a flashback is super hard. *laughs nervously* I know I screwed it up. Oh well. It'll live.**

**Question: Looking forward to the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies?**

**My Answer: Hell to the yes!**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	13. Year 2-The Cons Of Being A Lycanthrope

**Hellooo!**

**Back again!**

**I only got three reviews last chapter. :( Can we please have a bit more this time?**

**Jennifer (Guest): Well, as you will find out, yes I am doing parts of the summers, as they hold important bits of the storyline I have planned out. **

**Fires of Black Chaos: Thanks for that pointer, I just guess I didn't see it as I already knew which POV was which, but I went and fixed it all up for you. I'm sure I also made great convenience for others, too. And yeah, chocolate . . . Remus is very attached. ;)**

**Earth. bound. wolf: I know you depend on chocolate. I know _veeery _well. **

**Anyways, read, review and ENJOY!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**13 – The Cons Of Being A Lycanthrope**_

**Remus**

Remus woke up to find himself looking at the white ceiling of his bedroom. He was tired. _So tired._ Vague and unstable memories of the previous night started coming back to him, and he shot up, looking around to find his white sheets stained with blood. Sure enough, when he pulled up the cotton t-shirt he was wearing, there was bandaging around his torso, and he could tell from where the redness was seeping through that he had inflicted a nasty cut to his side. Remus winced and collapsed back on the bed.

A scream echoed in the back of his mind. A horrible one.

Biting his lip, Remus racked his brain, trying to figure out where he had heard it; trying to piece together where it had come from. All that came to mind was a pale and terrified face. He could actually smell the fear.

Oh _no._

Burying his face in his hands and quietly muttering a choice curse word he had learnt from Sirius and James the previous year, Remus tried not to fall apart. That was difficult, because he felt as though he were bursting at the seams, and that he was going to blow up, hurting someone else.

Someone _else._

His bedroom door creaked open, and his mother poked her head in. 'Remus?'

Hope Lupin was one of the most beautiful women in the world, Remus believed. And he was proud to call her his mother. With light brown hair cut in a bob above her shoulders and blue eyes, you could tell where Remus had gotten some of his features from. Others, not so much. While his mother had a petite, upturned nose, Remus' was straighter, and he had a light scattering of freckles across the bridge, which she lacked. She was also fairly small, and Remus wasn't too far off overtaking her, height wise.

She pushed the door open fully and came in, dressed in a pale blue singlet top and a white, knee-length skirt. She pushed it shut and sat down on the end of his bed, next to him.

'Do you know what happened last night?' she asked gently. Dreading the worst, Remus shook his head.

She reached out to gently touch his shirt, where underneath the bandaging lay. 'Well, I suppose you may have gathered some,' she murmured. Straightening up, she looked him in the eyes, a sad look in them.

'What happened?' Remus whispered, his voice cracking slightly.

'Remus, honey, I just want you to know first, this wasn't your fault. Okay? It – it wasn't you. It was . . . the other side.'

'What did I do?' Remus asked urgently, starting to tremble slightly. 'What?'

'I . . .'

'I hurt someone, didn't I?'

'Remus –'

'Didn't I, Mum?' he shouted, getting to his feet. His heart was racing. Oh no. _Oh no, oh no, oh no . . ._

'You broke out of the shed,' she said, her voice low, gentle. 'And got out onto the street. There was . . . there were a few people out there. Muggles.'

Her voice cracked slightly as she used her own title to describe the others, and she put a hand on Remus' shoulder. He was in shock, and everything was blurry.

'They called the authorities when they saw you,' she continued. 'But you got there first. You attacked one of the people in the group, and they . . . they're in St Mungo's now. Undergoing treatment.'

Remus couldn't breathe. He actually couldn't breathe. The world was starting to spin, and before he could do anything to stop it, he tumbled off the bed and onto the ground, his head connecting with the wood. With a cry of pain, he curled up into a ball, burying his face into his knees.

He couldn't hear anything, but he knew his mother was saying something. She knelt down beside him and put his head in her lap, and looking up at her, her expression was urgent. Her mouth moved, but Remus couldn't figure anything out from her lips. His ears were filled with a dull buzzing.

She turned towards the door and shouted something, and seconds later his father ran in, dropping down beside them both. His parents exchanged words, before his father scooped him up and laid him back on the bed. He left the room shortly after.

His mum gently touched his forehead, and Remus closed his eyes, taking in the warmth of her hand.

He supposed that was when he blacked out.

* * *

When Remus woke up, thankfully it was still daylight, and when he looked at his clock it read 12:45. Rubbing his aching head and sitting up, he thought about the situation he was currently in.

He had attacked someone. And he would have turned them into a werewolf in the least, or if the situation was that dire, killed them. The thought made him sick.

Getting quietly to his feet and ignoring the creak of the mattress as he rose, he crossed the room to turn on the light. Unconsciously, his eyes wandered over to the letter sitting on his desk.

Along with James, Sirius, Peter and Lily, Remus had kept up regular correspondence with Kayla, who was staying in Italy for the holidays. He strode over and picked up her most recent letter, reading it for what felt like the millionth time.

_Hey Rem!_

_Guess what? We got to ROME yesterday, and yes, I mean THE Rome. It is so cool. Damn, some of the historical wizarding artefacts they have here in the Muggle museums are fantastic. These Muggles just don't realise what they're picking up. I mean, sure, they have a tour guide that is, you know, one of us going around, and he gives us the full explanation, yada yada yada, and it's pretty awesome. Some of this stuff dates back to the First Goblin Rebellion! Yeah, I know. Go right ahead and be envious of me. You know I'll revel in it. Anyway, I'll enclose some pictures so you get a little bit of the experience. _

_I've gotta go, you know families and when they travel; there's a strict itinerary that you've got to stick to, so I'm off to the Coliseum. Awesome, eh?_

_Hugs,_

_Kayla._

Just looking over her familiar handwriting made him smile slightly, and he felt a little better. Back at school, he liked to tease her about the way she wrote g's, with a very fancy tail. He did it again in his mind, and this time a full grin crossed his face.

_Gee Kaye, they're just so . . . _curly.

Those words generally made her bristle, then she'd tell him off for insulting her lovely g's.

With a small laugh, he set the letter back down, before the reality of his current situation set in.

He froze.

Kayla . . . She was going to get hurt. He just _knew_ it. He hadn't really taken that thought into account in the last year. The reality of it all just hadn't set it. But now he knew what he was capable of.

But what was he going to do? He couldn't just abandon her without warning. He was the only friend she had. If he left her now, she would go back to what she was at the start of first-year. And _no way_ was he going to let her do that. What could he do without hurting her?

He could hear movement up the other end of the house, and the attack made its way back into his mind.

What was going to happen? He wouldn't get off, surely. He was probably in a load of trouble. He had attacked a _muggle_ who would probably need to be Obliviated.

He – he . . . he _seriously_ didn't know what was going to happen. And it terrified him.

He pushed open his door and stepped out into the hallway, and made his way into the kitchen. 'Mum?'

She was at the sink, washing dishes. Pausing when she saw him, she dried her hands on her apron and turned around. 'There's a letter for you, honey.'

Remus' eyes wandered to the bench, where a white envelope sat. Hesitantly, he made his way over and inspected it, not wanting to touch it.

'When did this come?' he asked, sparing his mother a glance.

'Just a little bit after . . .' She broke off, but Remus could fill in the gaps in his head. _After you did it._

Not daring to breathe, Remus picked up the envelope and tore it open, drawing the parchment from within.

_Dear Mr Lupin,_

_We have received intelligence that you, as a werewolf, attacked a Muggle at fifty-four minutes past eleven this evening in a Muggle-inhabited area and in the presence of multiple Muggles. _

_The severity of the breach of the Decree for the Control of Magical Creatures would generally result in your immediate arrest, however until further notice you will only be required to attend a disciplinary hearing at the Ministry of Magic at 1 p.m. on the twenty sixth of August. _

_Hoping you are well,_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Anwen Turner_

_Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures_

_Ministry of Magic_

Remus felt numb. He sought out the key points in the letter the second time around, and a slightly sick, slightly relieved feeling took over him.

'What does it say?' his mother prodded after a moment, where he had stood in stunned silence. There was anxiety in the slight lines on her young face; raising a werewolf for a child had begun robbing her of her youth far too quickly.

The letter had been sent last night . . . on the twenty fourth. He had to attend a hearing tomorrow if he had any hope of remaining in society. The thought scared him.

Silently, he passed the letter over to her.

He watched her face as she read through it, and how the worry deepened even further. When she finished, she placed it back down on the bench and left the house through the back door, calling for his father.

Remus wanted to follow, but he felt he couldn't. Instead, he just sat down on a chair at the dining table and waited. Soon enough, both of his parents came in.

'Remus,' Lyall said, sitting on the chair beside him and giving him a look that was telling him to calm down. 'Last night, a representative from the Ministry came, but because you weren't able to say anything for yourself, he left soon after. But he never said anything about a hearing.'

'You're lucky, Remus,' his mother murmured, her eyes shining with tears. 'They might have arrested you.' She stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. 'They might have taken my baby away from me,' she whispered.

'Now, this hearing,' his father continued, 'I just want you to know that we'll be on your side the whole time. Okay?'

Remus nodded mutely.

A hearing. He was twelve, and he was going to a hearing for something he couldn't control.

Everything was crashing down on him at once, and it just _wasn't fair._

* * *

**I actually did a little research this chapter. First of all, with the dates, I was setting the hearing for the twenty fourth, then I went and looked up a full moon calendar for 1972, and it turns out my arrangements were only two days off the actual full moon. That was pretty cool. And second of all, with Remus' parents, I only looked up their names, nothing else. So, fact wise, a lot of stuff is going to be wrong. But this is a FANFICTION. I can do what ever the bloody hell I want.  
**

**Question: What, from what you know about this story, do you think may happen/want to happen at some point?**

**Answer: Not saying anything . . . haha.**

**Leave your answers in the reviews. I want to know what you're thinking.**


	14. Year 2-Broomsticks & Hearings

**Hey, whaddya know? REVIEWS!  
**

**Jennifer (Guest): Wow. Those are some pretty good guesses. For the sake of secrecy, I'm not spoiling anything, but stuff will be answered over time. **

**Karolz101: Welcome to my small group of reviewers! I'm really glad you like this story. Heck, when people say that, it boosts my ego just a little ;)**

**Earth. bound. wolf: The fact that I got to witness your pain personally makes me feel good inside. *cackles***

**Fires of Black Chaos: Heck, those are really good predictions. Who knows, maybe they're right? Anyways, make your reviews as long as you like - my eyes never hurt when it comes to these. *grins***

**Anyways, read, review and I hope you enjoy!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**14 – Broomsticks and Hearings**_

**Remus**

'Come on.'

Remus was ushered along the hallway, courtrooms with their respective numbers on either side of him.

'Fourteen, here we go,' his mother breathed, knocking on the black, wooden door, before pushing it open by the iron handle.

'Don't think the full court's assembled yet, so we're not late,' his father muttered, his eyes scanning faces that were probably familiar to him. Remus' mother bent her knees slightly so her face was level with his, and with a sad smile she brushed a hand over his neatly combed hair.

'It's going to be alright, okay?' she said, looking him directly in the eyes. 'Just tell the truth, and someone else will be handling the rest.'

'Won't – won't you get in trouble?' Remus whispered, his heart pumping. 'Because you technically let me loose in the streets.'

'Like I said, it will work out. Don't worry yourself, honey.' Despite her reassurance, she looked worried herself, and she spared his father a quick glance before turning her attention back to Remus. 'Now, be good, and make sure you're polite to whoever's up there.'

He nodded mutely.

'Go sit down now.' She pointed to a chair in the middle of the room. Chains were coiled around the arms and the back. Remus felt sick. It didn't help that he hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch.

On shaky legs, he made his way over to the chair and sat down. The chains twitched and he jumped violently.

About five minutes later, a witch with her brown hair pulled into a bun sat in the middle of the highest bench, and the slight hubbub subsided.

'Ready?' she questioned, looking down the row at a man holding a notepad and quill. When he nodded, she turned to the papers sitting on the bench before her.

'Disciplinary hearing on the twenty-sixth of August, into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Control of Magical Creatures and the International Statute of Secrecy by Remus John Lupin, resident at 92 Cardelia Drive, Edgware, London.

'Interrogators: Elizabeth Caroline Dunning, Head of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures; Daniel Matthew Edgecombe, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Alistair Conall Hughes. Witnesses for Defence, Hope Clare Lupin, Lyall Scott Lupin, and Albus Percival –' She broke off, frowning slightly, before continuing slowly and hesitantly. ' – Wulfric Brian . . . Dumbledore.'

Remus blinked, eyes wide, before he strained to look around at the bench behind him. His parents were sitting there, and indeed, so was Dumbledore.

He slumped back in his seat, feeling shocked. The greatest wizard of the age . . . at his hearing. More importantly, to defend him. He felt as though "his world had been tipped on its side" as Kayla would have phrased it.

'The charges against the accused are as follows,' the witch - Elizabeth - continued. 'That he, as a fully fledged –' She cut off, and a look of distaste crossed her features. ' - _werewolf_, remained loose in a Muggle inhabited area on the night of the full moon, on the twenty-fourth of August at fifty-four minutes past eleven, which constitutes as an offence under Paragraph B of the Decree for the Reasonable Control of Magical Creatures.'

She surveyed him over the top of her papers.

'You are Remus John Lupin, of 92 Cardelia Drive, Edgware, London?' she prodded, looking him in the eyes. Feeling anxious, Remus cleared his throat.

'Erm, yes, ma'am.'

'You were fully aware of your location on the night in question?'

'Yes.'

'Were you outside, or not under any sort of containment?'

'No, ma'am.'

'Explain, please.'

'When I -' His voice came out slightly hoarse. Clearing it again, he had another attempt at speaking. 'When I change, Mum and Dad lock me in the shed. It usually keeps me contained. I don't know how, but I obviously managed to break out at some point.'

Mutterings began among the witches and wizards on the lower benches, and Elizabeth gave a slight nod. Alistair was jotting all of this down in his notebook.

'So, the official charges ought to be pressed upon your parents?' Elizabeth pressed after a moment. Remus' heart jumped violently.

'No!' he all but yelled, making to stand up, but the chains sprang into action, binding themselves around his wrists, knees and ankles. 'No,' he said again, trembling. Hesitantly, he sat back down. The chains made no effort to loosen themselves.

'Who then, shall take the blame?' she asked, raising a severe eyebrow.

'Me,' he forced out, still shaking. 'I have to, because _I'm _the werewolf. Not them.'

'But they are officially your parental guardians. Until you are legally of age, being seventeen, they are responsible for you.'

'That doesn't mean it's their fault,' Remus said.

'Pardon me, madam, but may I add to this?' A new voice cut over the top of them, and Remus twisted around to see Dumbledore had risen to his feet. Elizabeth gave a curt nod.

'As we all very well know, lycanthropy is particularly uncontrollable,' he said, pacing around the floor; around Remus. 'I don't see how either the accused or his family should face punishment. First of all, as stated in the Lycanthropy Rights document – Section D Part Two, I believe – that unless family members or close relations are directly affiliated with the incident, they hold no blame. Further down, in Section G, it is stated very clearly that unless the attacks were deliberately planned, the werewolf himself cannot be titled guilty either.'

'They _have_ been directly affiliated, though,' Elizabeth objected, pointing her quill towards Remus' parents. 'They are the reason we are all here now.'

'The strength of a werewolf is unpredictable.'

'He should have been kept somewhere more suitable.'

'No matter what measures one goes to, they will always fail in the end,' Dumbledore said loudly, his voice ringing through the room and silencing everyone else.

'He ought to be expelled and moved away. An asylum in the least, Azkaban at the best.'

'Is your prejudice against werewolves getting the better of you, Elizabeth?' Dumbledore asked harshly. 'An asylum? The boy is not mad; in fact, his mental health is very good. And Azkaban is a place for criminals. Not twelve year old boys who go through more each month than what most of us here in this room will suffer in our entire lives!'

Remus breathed in sharply. He hadn't looked at his problem in that way. It made it seem worse than he really thought it was. Though, when he gave it consideration, he was used to it. It was something he had accepted he would be dealing with for the rest of his life, and he was quite used to it by now. He supposed that from another's point of view, it really _was_ horrible, just with Remus it was a fact of reality.

'Very well,' Elizabeth said flatly. 'Those in favour of clearing the accused of all charges?'

Hands upon hands went into the air, and Remus blinked in surprise. That was . . . that was a lot of hands. He considered comparing them to the rest, but from the angle he was sitting at, it was impossible to tell.

'And those in favour of conviction?'

Almost just as many raised their hands now; both Elizabeth and Daniel Edgecombe the Senior Undersecretary were with them. Scanning the masses with a sour look on her face, Elizabeth turned back to her papers. 'Cleared of all charges,' she said irritably.

A surge of relief ran through Remus, and he nearly fell over as he stood, he was that dizzy. His mother rushed over to embrace him, and he grinned slightly, feeling giddy.

'You're cleared!' she whispered, holding his face between her hands and kissing his forehead. 'All cleared!'

His father came up beside her and clapped him on the shoulder, a look of relief on his features. 'That's my boy.'

As though remembering something, Hope straightened up to find herself face-to-face with Dumbledore. 'Oh, _thank you_, Albus,' she cried, flinging her arms over his shoulders. With a small chuckle, Dumbledore patted her on the back before she broke off, her eyes glistening slightly. Lyall shook his hand, and they exchanged words that Remus was too busy thinking to hear.

_Cleared of all charges_ . . .

He couldn't help himself. He grinned.

* * *

**Lily**

'Aww, come on, Lil! Give it a try.'

Lily crossed her arms, feeling slightly nervous. '_No._ It's a broom, Marley!'

'Just train with me, please? I really want to get on the team!'

'You'll get on it easily enough without me.'

Marley, who was sitting on her Comet Forty-Five, gave her an exasperated look. 'Give it a try. You might even _like_ it, dare I say it.'

Lily sighed, giving in. 'Fine. But only for a bit.'

Marley whooped and zoomed off towards the broom shed a short distance away.

They were at Marley's place in the countryside. Personally, Lily really liked it. The house was a big, white mansion that stood out from the green grass, looking very pretty. Trees were scattered everywhere. There was an orchard nearby, and they were in a field at the present moment where on the ground it had been marked out to look like a Quidditch pitch.

Marley shot in beside her, another broom in hand. 'Here you go,' she said, grinning. 'Hop on.'

Tentatively, Lily took it. The only times she had been on a broom were during the classes they'd had at Hogwarts, and even then she hadn't done too well.

Well, here goes nothing.

She swung her leg over the handle and sat herself on it. She hadn't realised that she had started trembling.

'Now, just kick off,' Marley said unhelpfully.

Alright. She could do this. She _could_.

She breathed in, then out again. In, out, in, out, in . . .

She kicked off.

So to speak, she screamed. Loudly.

'See!' Marley yelled over the rushing wind. 'It's _fun_, isn't it?'

'No it's _not!_' Lily wailed back, zigzagging through the air and watching the world move violently underneath her. 'Nononono_nonononono ._ . .'

Marley came up beside her. 'You're a bit wild,' she said flatly, trying to keep up with her violent jerking. 'Straighten up a bit.' She reached out and steadied Lily's grip on the broom, and suddenly, she could see properly. 'Keep going straight,' Marley repeated.

'Keep going straight,' Lily muttered to herself. Marley pulled away, and Lily was on her own again. But she was doing okay.

Gliding over the countryside, Lily properly took in the view. Flying was actually kind of . . . relaxing.

Well, sort of, now that she wasn't going around like a lunatic.

'And, we're comin' in to land!' Marley called, diving downwards. Lily choked, before doing as she was bidden, angling downwards. But the ground was coming to fast. Oh god, she was going to die.

Panicking and practically having a fit, Lily screeched and yanked upwards at the last moment. She was flung over the end of the broom and landed on her backside in the soft grass. Marley came down beside her.

'You alright?' she asked, looking slightly worried. Lily laughed and nodded. 'I'm fine.'

Marley cracked a grin. '_So._ Did I change your mind about flying?'

'No way in hell.'

* * *

**Ending it up with some Lily and Marley because I'm pretty sure it makes us all smile. **

**Question: Favourite ship of all time?**

**Answer: CALEO! *has a little dance party, and does a bit of spontaneous karaoke***

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**

**And I mean _PLEASE_ crank up those reviews. Really need them.**


	15. Year 2-You See Anyone ELSE To Talk To?

**Heya, guys!**

**Fires of Black Chaos: If you want Remus/Kayla to be a ship, go right ahead. It made me squeal when I found out I had created somebody's OTP. And second of all, Blood of Olympus . . . get ready for the ride of your life.**

**Karolz101: Well since I'm working on two stories at the present moment, I suppose it _technically_ takes me a week to update, rarely more, but a lot of the time less, and that's because I write chapters for the two in alternating order. So, I'll write a chapter for my other story first, then I'll write this one, which generally only takes two or three days.**

**Earth. bound. wolf: That bloody Dramione cult Blackcat's pulled you into. Heck, where's the Romione support, people?! **

**Jennifer (Guest): Caleo is in the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus series, and it's the pairing of Leo Valdez and Calypso. **

**Anyways, read, review (please please please I really need them) and I hope you enjoy!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**15 – You See Anyone ELSE To Talk To?**_

**James**

'_Evans!_ Long time, no see, eh?'

Evans groaned audibly and rested her fingers on her temples, shooting James a look. 'What do you _want_?'

James plopped down on the bench beside her and grinned. 'Well, you know. I'm here, you're here, and I thought we could have a bit of a chat, you know.'

She looked around warily. 'Alright, what's going on? You _never_ talk to me for no reason.'

He gestured around the almost-empty train platform. They were a _little_ early (about an hour), but James' mum wanted to get him out of the house so she could go clothes shopping. His dad was at work, and James didn't want to stay at home with only the house elf for company, so he agreed to turn up early. 'You see anyone _else_ to talk to?'

Evans pursed her lips. 'I suppose. But the fact that you're choosing me for your company for the next hour is . . . unnerving.'

James snorted. 'Unnerving? Evans, my dear bird, my company is quite _delightful_. Just ask anyone.'

'There's two groups. Do I ask the ones that run screaming, or the ones that have plans to be your future wife?'

James blinked. 'Gee, they're keen.'

She rolled her eyes. 'They're _girls_ on the brink of adolescence. Of _course_ they're keen.'

James actually started feeling a little uncomfortable. Girls? Now, that was a bit of a weird topic for him. To him, girls were just . . . people. He didn't really like the idea that he'd end up _liking_ one. And Evans? Nah, he didn't _like _her. Sure, he had that temporary fascination last year, but he was through with that faze. He didn't like her anymore. Not in that way. She just had stunning eyes and was fun to pull pranks on. He also supposed she was pretty – for a twelve year old, anyway. But that didn't mean anything.

Hiding his discomfort, he flashed a grin. 'You know, I think I know _why_ we've had as many misunderstandings as we have.'

Evans arched an eyebrow. 'Oh?'

'You see,' James said, casually putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her straight into his side, 'we just need to . . . get to know each other, so to speak.'

'Thanks, but no thanks,' she muttered, grimacing as she slipped out of his grip.

'Aww, come on, Evans!' James whined, pulling a pleading face. 'Who knows, we might even get something out of this!'

She chewed her lip, thinking. 'Fine. But only because it will pass time. _And no more touching me._'

James gave a mock salute. 'Yes ma'am.'

She sighed. 'What will we talk about?'

'Um . . .'

* * *

**Marlene**

Marley stopped pushing her trolley immediately and grabbed Sirius by the arm, pulling him up short. He looked at her confusedly. 'What?' he asked.

'Do you see what I see?' Marley asked, grinning.

'No.'

She pointed through the crowd of people, over at a bench against a brick wall. '_Look_.'

Sirius did as he was told, and laughed. 'No way . . .'

Lily and James were actually in a metre radius of each other, and even better, talking like civilised people. And nothing seemed to have gone wrong. Lily was _actually_ laughing. Well and truly.

'I feel like we should treat ourselves to ice-cream or something,' Marley said out of the corner of her mouth, feeling triumphant. Sirius nodded, looking just as smug.

'Prongs and Lily Flower . . .' he said, as though he couldn't actually believe it. He turned to Marley. 'Maybe things'll change this year?'

* * *

**Sirius**

He spoke too soon. Within a matter of minutes, Evans and James went their separate ways, Evans looking thoroughly brassed off. When Marley went off to follow Lily, Sirius approached James feeling thoroughly surprised, though the latter didn't even seem fazed.

'What did you do?' he prodded. James only smirked.

'I asked her a question,' was his simple reply. Sirius didn't even _want_ to know.

They were interrupted when Sirius got a tap on the shoulder, and he looked around to find Shortie (still just as small as she ever was), a tabby cat in its cage sitting on top of her trunk beside her, yowling. 'Have you seen Remus?' she asked, fiddling with the end of her long braid. Sirius responded with a shake of his head, and she pursed her lips, looking slightly disappointed. He turned back to James. 'Seem Rem around, James?'

When James replied with his own "no", Shortie gave a small nod. 'Alright then. I'll just . . . go find him.'

'Nah,' Sirius said, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her up short. 'Stick with us. We'll track him down.'

She eyed his grip on her and he let go hastily. 'Okay then,' she said slowly. 'Where are we going to look? He should be here by now; the train's about to leave.'

James pointed two fingers to the scarlet Hogwarts Express, and said, 'then we shall look over _there_, my fellow adventurers!'

Shortie rolled her eyes, but consented.

* * *

**Remus**

_Buggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbuggerbugger . . ._

Bugger.

Remus' eyes darted between compartments, trying to find somewhere. Somewhere to _hide_.

He needed to figure out what he was going to do, and that wouldn't be possible if Kayla – or anyone, for that matter – was there, because he would most likely change his mind.

He pushed open the door to an empty compartment and shoved his trunk up onto the rack, before pulling out a large History textbook to hide his head behind. He then sat himself down in the corner and opened it up so he covered his face.

So. Game plan. He had been thinking about it for the remainder of the holidays, but he still didn't know what he was going to do. Kayla couldn't find out, and he refused to hurt her – physically. Emotionally might be unavoidable.

At the moment, his best option was to try and pass her off to Lily and Marlene, and hope that they accepted her. Lily was a nice girl – he hoped that she would. Marlene . . . he didn't really know her; she was more of Sirius' forte. But all the same, everything depended on that she was willing.

But he had to do this discreetly. He couldn't just drop Kayla. His best friend. It would hurt both of them too much. He had to edge himself away, little by little, until they had gone their separate ways. It was his only option. She was bound to get suspicious of his frequent disappearances, and that morning in the common room had come too close. If she found out what he was . . . she would know how much of a monster he really was. She would be horrified. She would leave without looking back, and Remus . . . he knew it was going to happen eventually if he didn't put a stop to it.

James, Sirius and Peter . . . well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it. They weren't the brightest of sorts. Maybe they wouldn't notice.

He snorted in spite of himself. Yeah _right_. Wouldn't notice . . . what was he thinking?

_Bang!_

The door slid open, revealing a very triumphant James, Sirius, and tagging along behind, Kayla. Remus quickly hid his look of shock and grinned.

'Been looking for you,' James announced, casually chucking his trunk up onto the rack.

'Apparently,' was Remus' amused response.

'Weird compartment to choose,' Sirius commented. 'There are plenty of empty ones.'

'Oh.' What Remus didn't say was that it was near the back of the train, and that it would have been unlikely that they would have looked there. 'Well, this one's quieter, I guess.'

'Huh,' Kayla said, sitting down beside him and studying his face, sounding disbelieving. 'What's _happened _to you?' she asked incredulously.

Remus' fingers instantly jumped to the weal on his cheek, which had only begun to scab over not long ago, and tried to act nonchalant, pulling together a story in his head. 'I uh, ran into a fence. Barbed wire.'

'You've had a tetanus shot, right?'

Remus waved her off. 'I'll be fine. I don't need shots. Dad's had his fair share of medical charms.'

'_Right_.'

'Where's Pete?' Remus asked, desperate to change where this conversation was heading. James suddenly looked a little bit confused, before that expression changed to guilt. 'Um . . .'

The question however, was answered almost instantly when the compartment door slid open again, revealing a shocked looking Peter. 'You'll _never_ guess what I saw earlier! James! And _Lily_! Together! Talking!'

He then seemed to register that James was right in front of him and flushed slightly, trailing off into inaudible mutterings. Sirius only laughed.

'I know, right? Personally I think we should start expecting the apocalypse.'

'Hey!' came James' indignant response. 'Just 'cause I managed to talk to the bird . . .'

Kayla made a small noise, and Remus looked at her to find that she apparently was on the brink of bursting into uncontrollable laughter. 'Oh, bravo, James,' she said, grinning. 'You _talked_ to her. Definitely worth applauding.'

'In his case, it is,' Remus commented dryly. 'He's a bit insensitive in regards to this whole "talking to girls" thing.'

James made another noise of objection, before an idea seemed to come to him. 'You sleep in the same dorm as Evans, don't you?' he prodded, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, fixing Kayla with a look that Remus knew would lead to trouble.

'Erm, yes?' she replied uncertainly, eyeing him warily.

'You can talk to her?'

'No . . .'

'Oh.' His face fell, as though his plan had crumbled just as quickly as it had been formed. He then gave Kayla an odd expression. 'Why not? You're girls. Don't you all just sit on one bed, and do each other's hair and gossip?'

Kayla choked. 'I'm sorry, _what?_'

He pulled an exasperated face. 'Don't tell me you're all separated into little groups or something.'

She replied, keeping her expression neutral. 'We are, actually.'

James blinked. 'What? But that's just . . . huh?'

'Lily and Marlene are always off together,' Kayla started, holding up two fingers. 'And then you've got Claire and Imogen.' She held up another two. 'And then there's me.' She finished with all five in the air.

He looked confused. 'But, why don't you all just hang out and be buddies?'

She gave a bitter laugh. 'Girls obviously seem to clash a lot more than you boys do. Sometimes, there are people who don't get along. Have you ever stuck Marlene and Claire in the same room?'

James' face darked. 'Yes, actually. It wasn't pretty.'

She raised her hands, her palms turned outwards. 'Exactly my point. So, those two groups don't ever want to cooperate with each other, and I'm just on the sidelines.'

She was greeted by the blinking of a stunned compartment full of boys. Even Remus was slightly surprised. He never . . . well, he didn't understand girls, okay?

Kayla sighed. 'Well, then.'

'I _never_,' Sirius said, sounding shocked. He looked back at Kayla. 'That was some speech, Shortie.'

'Are you _still_ calling me that? Do you even know my name?'

* * *

**Remus, you stupid twit.  
**

**Anyways, hope that was a good enough chapter. **

**Question: How do you eat your pies? Do you cut them up, pull off the top, or just pick 'em up and eat them whole? Or do you not eat pies at all? Hell, I don't know!**

**My Answer: Pick it up and eat it like that. But then it hits the point where the steaming hot meat slips out of the pastry and down your hand, and you have to put it down because of your newly acquired burnt hand.**

**Remember to leave your answers in the reviews!**


	16. Year 2-James Stole All Of The Chocolates

**Helloooooo**

**Seriously, who _am_ I? Pies? Of all things to ask about, I ask about pies . . .**

**I only wrote this chapter today. Wolf would have slaughtered me if I didn't.**

**Karolz101: You're welcome ;)**

**Fires of Black Chaos: A spoon, eh? That's new. Never thought of eating pies with one of those. I'll have to try it sometime.**

**Madamoiselle (Guest): My god, THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING YOU FABULOUS PERSON! I'm really glad you like the story :D**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Get that flobberworm away from me. And Remus, too. I love him too much. Away, I say! Also, stop trying to read my plan, you twit! Oh well . . . love you anyway. Somehow . . .**

**Anyways guys, read, review and ENJOY!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**16 – James Stole All Of The Chocolates!**_

**Lily**

The door to Lily and Sev's compartment slammed open and Marley burst inside.

'James stole all of my chocolates!' she wailed. '_Again!_' She threw herself down on the seat and flung her arms around Lily's neck, burying her face into the latter's shoulder.

Lily looked over at Sev whose eyes were wide in surprise, and stifled a laugh. Instead she looked down at the distressed girl clinging to her. 'Again?'

'He broke into my stash on the holidays,' Marley muttered, her voice muffled through the material of Lily's robes. 'And just then I went to the bathroom, before coming back to find my trunk open and my newest supply stolen!'

Lily gave Sev an apologetic look before giving the overdramatic girl what was supposed to be a reassuring pat on the back. 'Alright, Marley, calm down. We'll go find Potter, retrieve your sugar, then smack him upside the head. Okay?'

Marley sat up and gave Lily an evaluating look before giving a satisfied nod. 'Right.' She got to her feet and Lily wearily followed in suit, giving Sev a small wave goodbye. 'I'll see you again soon.' He looked a bit disappointed, but nodded. As they went out the door, Marley also waved. 'Bye, Snape.'

Marley then grabbed her by the wrist and tugged her up the corridor, looking through the glass doors of each compartment. When they reached the end of the train, she finally threw one of them open with a triumphant 'HA!'

Potter, Sirius, Peter, Remus and Kayla were inside, and somehow – _somehow_, a cat had made its way on to Sirius' lap, of all people. It hissed at their abrupt entrance and dug its claws into his legs. Sirius gave a yell, and the cat scarpered up into the darkness of the luggage racks. Kayla looked up at the pair of green eyes glaring down at them and sighed. No one bothered to try and coax it down.

Rubbing his legs in irritability, Sirius looked up at Lily and Marley. Marley burst into laughter and he made a noise of indignation.

'You try petting that beast!'

Marley raised her hands in surrender. 'I'll pass.'

He grumbled. 'And why are you here?'

Marley whirled on Potter, who was wearing a slight grin. 'Do you have something to return to me, _buddy?_'

He shrugged, the truth obviously shining out of every inch of his gleeful face. 'Nope. Did you need something, Marls?'

She stuck out her hand impatiently. 'Hand over the chocolate.'

Potter put a hand over his heart in mock surprise. 'So quick to accuse, m'lady! So quick to accuse!'

Marley rolled her eyes, before shoving Potter aside and flipping open his trunk, instantly giving a yell of satisfaction. She brought out a plastic container full of assorted chocolates, a smug look on her face. 'You,' she said, bopping Potter over the head with the container, 'have just been proven guilty.'

He pulled a face. 'Damn it.'

Hugging her chocolate in close to her chest, Marley squeezed herself into the small space between Sirius and Peter, before cracking off the lid and biting the head off a chocolate frog. Wordlessly, she handed Sirius the container, still watching Potter.

'How come you give him the chocolate?' he cried, aghast. Marley poked her tongue at him.

'_He_ doesn't steal it to begin with.'

'Yeah, James,' Sirius said, smirking and eating a frog himself. '_I_ don't steal it.'

Marley swatted him on the shoulder. 'Shush, you.'

'I have my rights.'

Marley tugged the container back off him. 'Not anymore.'

Sirius looked up at Lily. 'Sit down, would you, Evans? You just look so bloody socially awkward that it's ruining the aura of awesomeness that I'm casting over everyone.'

Lily hesitated, but at Marley's insistence ('Just hang around please, Lil.') she folded her skirt in close around her legs and slotted herself between Remus and Potter. But _only _because it was the one gap she could find.

She looked up at the luggage racks, where the cat was still peering down. She pointed. 'What's it called?'

Kayla opened her mouth to answer, but Remus cut in.

'I've dubbed that thing Fried Chicken.'

Kayla glared at him. 'For the last time, his name is _not_ Fried Chicken!'

Lily burst into laughter. '_Fried Chicken?_'

Kayla pulled a face. 'Don't ask me _where_ he got it. Anyway, his name is Chance.'

Remus turned to Lily. 'Fried Chicken has a better ring to it, don't you think?'

She could barely shake her head through her laughing.

Kayla rolled her eyes and stood up, reaching towards the cat. 'Here, puss puss.'

With a meow (bleat?), the cat crawled out of his hole and butted his head against Kayla's hand. Kayla then grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and pulled him down before he could latch on to something. Sirius leaned away as she sat back down.

'Keep that thing away from me. It's vicious!'

Kayla only gave a small laugh and scratched Chance behind the ears. 'You just don't like stupid, insensitive boys, do you, baby?' she cooed. Remus burst into laughter.

'Stupid . . . insensitive boys?' he choked out, red in the face. 'God, Kaye, do I come under that heading?'

She smirked at him. 'What do you think? Of course you do.'

Lily gave him what was supposed to be a sympathetic pat on the back, laughing herself. 'Too bad, Remus.'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'Pass that cat over, will you?' he asked. 'Want to see if he likes me.'

'It's your funeral.' Kayla reached over and plopped the tabby cat on his lap. Chance hissed at Remus, who blinked in surprise, before springing off and back onto Sirius' lap again, curling up and going to sleep.

Sirius reeled backwards, his arms thrown out awkwardly. 'The beast has made its return,' he complained, eyeing it warily. Kayla crossed her arms. 'You shouldn't have let him get so attached to you, then.'

Sirius blanched.

* * *

**Sirius**

When the train stopped and Sirius had finally managed to detach the cat, the lot of them milled around outside, unsure of what to do. As far as they all knew, the boats were only for the first years. So how did the older students get up to the castle?

'You're a bunch of wusses, all of you,' Lily muttered irritably. 'We _just_ have to ask for help.' And so, turning around, she asked the nearest third-year what to do.

'Erm, excuse me?'

The boy, who had brown hair and kind eyes, turned. 'Yes?'

'Do you know where we're supposed to go?'

'First-years?' the boy asked. Lily shook her head. 'Second.'

'Ah. Right.' The boy grinned. 'You see those carriages?' he asked, pointing over the commotion. Lily nodded, standing on tiptoe. 'Just get in one of them and they'll take you up to the school.'

'But – but they have no horses,' Lily said confusedly.

The boy shook his head. 'I know. Crazy, eh? Anyway, just go with it. It's what the rest of us do.'

'Alright,' Lily said, her feet sitting flat against the ground again. 'Thank you.'

'No problem.' The boy stuck out his hand. 'I'm Frank. Frank Longbottom.'

Lily shook it. 'Lily Evans. And thank you again.'

With a grin and a wave goodbye, Frank left to join the group of friends that were waiting for him. Lily turned back to the others.

'See? That wasn't so bad,' she said. 'Let's go find those carriages now.'

Peter blinked. 'Lily Evans,' he said, slightly awestruck, 'you have a way with people.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'No, I don't. Now come on, we don't want them all to be filled up before we get there.'

* * *

_Splat!_

'ARGH!'

Sirius raised his blue, paint covered arms and looked up. The lot of them were splattered with bright colours and . . . _who introduced Peeves to paintballing?_

The poltergeist cackled and sat in the air upside down, the bell on his hat jangling incessantly. There were multiple balloons in his arms filled with paint and -

Sirius reached up to pull something out of his hair. Pineapple chunks too, by the look of it.

Lily, who was splattered from head to toe in purple, growled. 'PEEVES!'

James, who was standing next to her (the yellow suited him quite nicely), laughed and clapped her on the back, smearing and mixing the colours. 'Cheer up Evans! We're rainbow people now!'

'_Rainbow people? _James Potter, this is your SCHOOL UNIFORM! Don't you even _care?_'

James shrugged nonchalantly. 'We've got house elves for a reason, Evans.'

Lily groaned in frustration just as Professor McGonagall swept into the hall. '_Peeves!_'

Peeves snapped to attention and grinned at McGonagall. 'Wasn't doing nothing, ma'am.'

She pointed her finger towards the staircase. 'Out!'

With a cackle, Peeves dumped the last of his paint bombs on Lily and zoomed out of the hall. Lily, now completely rainbow, looked close to bursting into tears. McGonagall came over to them, and with a flick of her wand, they were all dry and paint-free. 'Move along, now.'

With hurried thanks, the lot of them crowded into the steadily-filling Great Hall and took their seats down at the Gryffindor table. Sirius scanned the masses. No, the first-years hadn't come in yet.

As though his thoughts had been read, the rest of the students took their seats and the doors swung open again, revealing McGonagall who started leading the first-years down the middle of the hall. Sirius spotted Regulus among them, and gave his nervous little brother a thumbs-up when they made eye contact. Regulus' pale face filled with colour slightly, and he looked a little more relaxed.

The students made it up to the front of the hall, where they watched the Sorting Hat sitting on its stool with looks of confusion. They all jumped in surprise when the brim opened and it began to sing. The whole time, completely ignoring the hat, Sirius gave his brother looks of encouragement, trying to convey the message that he was going to be alright, and that their parents wouldn't be as mad at him as they had at Sirius if he ended up in a different house. At least they didn't hit Regulus; they liked him too much.

He didn't think it got through. When McGonagall began calling out names, all of the calmness that had begun gathering in the younger boy's face dissipated, and his courage seemed to fall all the way down into his shoes.

'Black, Regulus.'

James leaned over to Sirius. 'That's your brother, isn't it?'

Sirius nodded mutely. Regulus stumbled over to the stool and sat down. The hat dropped over his eyes.

The moment of silence hurt Sirius' skull; the worry was too much.

He crossed his fingers.

'_Slytherin!_'

Relief. That was what flowed through his systems.

At first Sirius was confused. If Reg was in Slytherin, he couldn't protect him. But . . . the wrath of their parents was too much to incur. This was probably best.

Pulling off the hat and getting to his feet, Reg's eyes scanned the hall until they found Sirius. He looked worried, though Sirius put on a reassuring face and gave his brother a thumbs-up. Regulus looked relieved, and with a small smile, made his way over to the Slytherin table.

Sirius turned around and stared at his empty plate, nothing really registering other than that Regulus was probably going to be okay. Names passed through his head, in one ear and out the other. _Meadowes, Dorcas . . . Prewett, Alice . . . Zeller, Brian . . ._

It gave him a shock when the plates filled with food, and James instantly started brandishing a fork of roast beef in his face. 'Eat, Black, _eat!_'

With a small laugh, Sirius obliged.

* * *

**So . . .  
**

**Question: Favourite part of this chapter?**

**Answer: _Fried Chicken?_ XD**

***laughs uncontrollably***

**Okay guys, remember to leave your answers in the reviews. **


	17. Year 2-Stupid Squids

**Hello.**

**I have to say guys, I'm pretty disappointed by the amount of reviews I got last chapter. I only got three. Can we please try to do better than that this chapter?**

**I have a sneaking suspicion I have this mental checklist where I have my frequent reviewers, and when they review, I tick them off the list and feel pleased with them. I have to say, I get a bit antsy if someone doesn't. Just goes to show how OCD I am.**

**SomeoneProbablyABitTooObsessed: Well, hello, Mademoiselle. You know, it's not every day I have someone create an account so they can follow my story. I feel pretty awesome right now. And you have every right to feel fabulous.**

**Guest: No, no, Kayla's my little OC. I had to create a handful to get this story up and running, otherwise I don't think it would have flowed too well. And in regards to Kayla and Remus, I have lots of people wanting to know (particularly Wolf), but I'm keeping my lips sealed. You'll have to wait and see. ;)**

**Earth. bound. wolf: YES I TAUGHT HIM PAINTBALLING BECAUSE IT WAS TOO BLOODY FUNNY! And keep that flobberworm away from me. Keep in mind that the characters live under my command . . . mwahahahahaha**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Cheers!**

* * *

_**17 – Stupid Squids**_

**Marlene**

Marley woke up to a ball of fur in her face. Eck.

Seriously. It was _actually_ on her face.

With a bit of a strangled cry and some violent arm flailing, she shot straight up, and the fur went flying with a hiss.

'What in the world - ?' Spitting hair out of her mouth and sweeping her own tangled, curly mass out of her face, she looked around to find a puffed up tabby cat dangling off Lily's four-poster curtains.

'Where did this cat come from?' Marley wailed. 'Kayla! Your . . . _thing_ was sleeping on my face!'

There was a non-committal grumble from the other end of the dormitory. Marley huffed. _Clearly_ she had no sympathy.

'What do I do with it?' she prodded loudly, still watching the beast as it unhooked its claws from the material, crawling up onto the top of the bed frame. He looked down at Marley with a mew.

There was no response. Kayla had obviously gone back to sleep.

The cat meowed again, this time looked confused as to how it was going to get down from its perch. With an eye roll and a dramatic huff, Marley marched over to it until it was directly overhead. Lily was snoring quietly on the other side of the curtains. What a twit. She could sleep through anything.

Reaching up for the cat and clicking her fingers impatiently, Marley watched it as it promptly turned away from her, just like cats do.

Right.

Bugger all, then.

Grabbing onto one bedpost with her right hand and hauling herself onto the mattress (standing on the curtains while she did so), she stuck her spare hand out again.

'Come here, you useless furball.'

Chance glared at her. Marley glared back. Heck, she _invented_ killer glares.

The cat kept glaring, so she reached up and smacked it on the top of the head.

Ka-chow. Take that!

Chance hissed and turned around, stepping about awkwardly. He then sprung down, on the other side of the curtains.

By the sound of it, he landed on Lily's face.

'Ahh! Cat!'

'Marley's coming to the rescue,' Marley muttered, going to wrench the curtains apart. Her foot caught on the material and she tumbled forward, getting wrapped up in a cocoon of material.

And so, she went tumbling down like a log. 'Euah!'

'Ahh! Marley!'

Lily wasn't comfortable in the slightest to land on. Marley flopped about and wriggled as the curtains were torn down from the frame, and Lily squirmed beneath her. 'You're heavy!'

Ignoring this, Marley turned on her side and started rolling. Sure enough, the curtains came off her as she fell onto the floor with an incredibly loud smack.

That was when she was assaulted by a can of hairspray. "Natural Blonde", to be exact. Lifting her head out of her tangle of limbs, she looked up to see a sleep-deprived and irritable Imogen scowling at her.

'Do you know,' she said slowly, 'what time it is?'

Marley shrugged, a small grin creeping its way onto her face. 'Please enlighten me, hon.'

Imogen's eye twitched. 'Four fifty-five.'

'Quite normal by my clock. Would you like me to fetch you a coffee? Or will the caffeine explode your systems?'

'You're so immature, Marlene,' she grumbled, flopping back into her sheets.

'I like to revel in it,' she said. She got to her feet and smirked. 'And besides, none of this would have happened if there wasn't a cat sleeping on my face.'

Imogen groaned and twisted herself onto her stomach, pulling her pillow over her head. 'Nice cover story.'

'Cover story, my foot,' she shot back, looking out the window before making a beeline for her trunk. It was early. A swim in the Black Lake sounded nice for this sort of weather.

* * *

'Sirius. _Sirius_.'

'Mghnef.'

'You wanna go swimming?'

A pair of partially opened eyes surfaced above the blankets, and finally Marley had something to look at besides the revolting messiness of the boys' dormitory. It seemed that even _Remus_ didn't keep things tidy. Boys. At least the girls were mildly neat.

'Swimming?'

'In the lake,' she responded, grinning. 'You want to go?'

Sirius seemed to be contemplating this for a moment, before he gave a short nod.

'Awesome,' Marley said. 'Meet me in the common room in five.'

* * *

'What on _earth_ made you think of going swimming this early?' Sirius asked as they walked bare-footed down the grassy slope of the grounds. As she had said, they met up in the common room, Sirius dressed in a pair of shorts, while Marley had just pulled on the first one-piece she could find.

'Nice weather,' Marley said. Sirius looked up at the sky. 'It looks like it's going to rain,' he said flatly.

'Exactly my point.'

Sirius cracked a grin. 'That's my girl. Race you down there!'

'Oh, you're on!'

They both broke into a sprint and flew down the hill, the lake coming closer and closer.

'I'm going to beat you!' Marley said in a sing-song voice.

'Not a chance!'

They both seemed to skid into the water at the exact same time, and both let out cries of shock as the freezing water engulfed them. God, it was cold. Sirius slipped over and was completely submerged. Marley laughed as he surfaced and shook his head, sending water flying everywhere. 'Cold,' he muttered. 'Coldcoldcoldcold_cold_.'

'I think you've already made that point,' Marley laughed, rubbing at her goosebump covered arms. The pale blonde hairs were standing on end.

'Not enough,' Sirius said, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her under. With a scream, Marley's head dipped below the water. She opened her eyes and she could see Sirius, who had also gone under. He grinned at her. She grinned back, the cold finally turning her nutty.

There was a movement in the blackness behind him. With a frown, she squinted her eyes, trying to see, before bobbing to the surface momentarily for air. When she was back down, she looked again. Sirius was pulling stupid faces at her. She pointed, and he turned. He watched it for a moment, before pointing above them. Getting the message, Marley swam above the water.

'Do you know what it is?' she asked as he bobbed up beside her.

'You bet I know,' he said, grinning. 'But you don't, I take it?'

Marley shook her head. 'Don't stuff around with me, Sirius, what is it?'

'It's a lake monster,' he said, clapping her on the back. 'But no need to worry, Poppet, it will kill you quickly. You don't need to fret about pain or anything.'

Marley pulled a face at him. 'Shut it, you. I want to get a closer look.'

'You sure?'

'You bet I'm sure. Let's go.' Marley dog-paddled a little further out before ducking down again. Sirius followed.

The water was murkier out here, and it was harder to see. All the same, she looked around. Sirius pointed below them, where the shadows shifted. Marley grinned and swum downwards.

The surface was getting further and further away, and Marley was running out of air. She had no doubt that Sirius was, too. In the last few moments, she pushed herself further down.

She collided head-on with something slimy. She screeched, and the last of the air she had disappeared. The surface was too far away.

Bugger. Bugger.

She tried huge, frog-like motions, but the distance was still too huge. Her vision was going hazy, and her lungs burned. Nononononononononono . . .

Something that felt like a thick, slimy rope looped its way around her torso, and suddenly water was tearing past her at a ridiculous pace.

She was thrust out into the open air, gasping like a fish.

'Oh my god,' she muttered, blinking. 'Oh my _god_.'

Sirius surfaced, looking terrified. 'Marley!' he shouted. 'The monster's got you!'

Marley touched the slimy thing that was still holding her and shrieked, trying to wriggle out of its grip with no avail.

'It's going to kill me, Sirius!' she wailed, her heart beating violently in her chest. 'It's going to freaking _kill_ me!'

'I know!' he shouted back. 'What do you want me to write on your will?'

'That I'm not leaving you anything!' she cried.

'I'm offended!'

'You should be!'

Suddenly, the terror left Sirius' face and he started grinning. He let out a whoop of laughter.

'I don't believe you!' Marley shrieked.

'No, no, no, that's not it.'

'_What_, then?'

'It's not a lake monster!'

'_What?'_

'It's the Giant Squid!'

Marley froze. Giant Squid? She slowly turned her head, and took in what was holding her. It was a tentacle.

The biggest surge of relief went through her, and she quite happily went limp as the squid lowered her to the surface of the water. When it let her go, Sirius paddled over to her, laughing.

'Marley was scared by a Giant Squid,' he teased. Marley glared.

'Shut up. You were too, remember?'

'Nah, I wasn't,' he said matter-of-factly.'

'I hate you,' Marley muttered. Sirius grinned. 'No, you don't.'

Marley wished he wasn't right all of the time. It would smack the smug look off his face in the least.

* * *

**Kayla**

It seemed that cats caused a lot more destruction than one would expect. So, before she could have all of the blame pinned on her, she scooped up Chance and plodded down to the common room, lazily throwing herself onto a couch. She had about an hour before she should go down to breakfast, so she needed to blow that time somehow. Chance clawed into her chest, causing her to wince, then curled up, purring loudly. No one seemed to be up yet, save Marlene, but Kayla had no idea where she had gone off to. She'd be lucky if she _ever_ found out.

Scratching Chance behind the ears, Kayla contemplated life a little. She was actually starting to wonder if she wouldn't be so bad off if she made some other friends. Remus was great, and she was never going to take him for granted, but he had other people in his life too. Like James, Sirius, Peter and Lily. So, if he could do it, maybe Kayla could find some more people. She had been living by herself for way too long.

She would be lying if she said this was the first time she had thought about it. Friends and people were a major topic that was on her mind. They were something that was one of the most important factors in everyone's life, except for Kayla. She didn't find friends important; she never _had_, though she was starting to wonder just how unhealthy that was. It wasn't going to leave her better off, anyway. Remus was right when he said she needed friends. She wished she had seen it sooner. Remus wasn't going to be around all the time. In fact, he disappeared quite often.

Kayla had given Remus' routine illnesses quite some thought. This was what she had pulled together so far:

1) His mother was frequently "sick", meaning he disappeared roughly once a month, or he was just ill.

2) He had always been sickly looking himself for the small handful of days leading up to that time.

3) For some _weird_ reason, Madam Pomfrey needed to escort him to the Whomping Willow.

4) He would turn back up at sunrise, scratched and bruised and looking like a horrific mess.

5) He always got protective and defensive towards anything regarding this topic.

Something was obviously wrong. Kayla just had to figure out what it was.

'If that cat purrs any louder, I'll bet you anything that it will wake up the entire castle.'

Kayla craned her neck around to find the boy of her thoughts standing on the boys' staircase, smirking slightly. She gave Chance another scratch and pulled a face. 'He's just placid, okay?'

It was Remus' turn to pull a face. 'Placid? That thing _hates_ me!'

'Probably because you insist on calling him Fried Chicken.'

Remus laughed and crossed the common room, sitting on the armchair beside her. 'I still think that's what you should have called him.'

Kayla shook her head stubbornly. 'Only idiots come up with names like those.'

He grinned. 'One idiot, at your service.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I swear, some days you're just as cocky as James or Sirius.'

He laughed again. 'What would you expect? I live with them.'

'True.'

He reached out tentatively to pat Chance. The cat's ears went back flat against his head as he recognised the different smell, and he turned to face Remus, hissing. His hand jumped back and the cat went to sleep again.

'Still hates me,' Remus muttered.

'It might change,' Kayla reasoned.

'Yeah. Maybe.' He breathed in. 'Okay, the reason I came down here: I want to talk to you about something.'

Kayla frowned slightly. Where was this going? 'Yes?'

'Well, I . . .' He paused, trying to decide how he was going to say it. 'I just – you see –'

'Just say it simply, Remus.'

He nodded. 'Okay. Well, you know how I'm always saying you should have friends?'

Kayla blinked. Had she not been thinking about this a few minutes ago? 'Yes?'

'I reckon you should give Lily and Marley a chance. One at a time, maybe, if you're not quite ready, but I think you should try.'

Kayla nodded slowly. 'I know. I've been thinking about it myself and – well, I think I should try too.'

The smallest of smiles started creeping on his lips. 'Really?'

She gave a confirming smile. 'Yes. Now I just have to go and find the courage.'

'That's amazing, you know? Pretty damn amazing.'

'I know,' she said breathily, laughing slightly in spite of herself. 'It's a huge jump for me.'

'But it's a life-changing one.'

'Yes. Definitely.'

He paused, then said, 'I would hug you, but the cat's there.'

Kayla looked down at Chance, then back up at Remus. 'I seriously don't think he's moving any time soon.'

Remus shook his head, pulling a face. 'No. And I'm not coming anywhere near you while he's there.'

She laughed. 'I'm not sure whether I should feel offended or not.'

He shrugged. 'I don't know, either. That was a weird comment.'

'You're a weird person, Remus Lupin.'

He puffed out his chest slightly, grinning. 'I take pride in it.'

'I know bloody well you do.'

They were interrupted by the sound of the Portrait Hole swinging open, and they both turned.

'Sirius?' Remus asked incredulously. 'What happened to _you?_'

Sirius Black and Marlene McKinnon were standing at the hole in naught but their swimmers, dripping water all over the carpet.

'It's something pretty damn epic, I'll give you that, Remus,' Sirius said, grinning. Kayla raised her eyebrows at Marlene, who rolled her eyes. 'I believe it was _me_ who was caught up in the epicness, Sirius.'

'At this rate, I'm going to think you were attacked by the Giant Squid,' Remus commented dryly.

There was no response.

* * *

**Hello, Giant Squid.  
**

**Question: For the sake of starting a war in the reviews, dogs or cats?**

**Answer: I'm very pro-cat. In regards to my future, I'll most likely turn into the local Crazy Cat Lady. Also, that's why Kayla has Chance. **

**Leave your answers in the reviews! (Goddamnit, _please!_)**


	18. Year 2-Bets Tend To Backfire

**Hello!**

**Well, I've upped my standard with the word count. I used to go between 1500 to 3000, and sometimes more if I felt like it. Well, my current word count compared to my number of chapters is perfectly horrid. So, my standard is a bit higher. Now it's 2500 to 4000. This one's about . . . 2800? I think? Well, I don't have time to write more (gotta go soon) but, I ended it in a good spot.  
**

**Thota Sadhvika Brahmani: Thankyou! Have an update! :)**

**Pfft no they didn't die: Mate, my god that is so freaking awesome! In fact, those similarities are scary! Woah . . .**

**Karolz101: Sirius, Marley . . . no spoilers. *grins***

**SomeoneProbablyABitTooObsessed: Awesomeness _does_ matter a lot. And yes, cats are the obvious solution.**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Chance . . . he _might_ like you. I dunno. It's mainly Remus he hates.**

**Fires of Black Chaos: Ha! Yes! CATS!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**18 – Bets Tend To Backfire **_

**Remus**

Minutes after Sirius and Marlene left to change into drier clothing, Remus excused himself and made a run down to the Great Hall. Hurriedly snatching up a piece of buttered toast and accepting his timetable from Professor McGonagall, he whirled around and left again.

He wandered aimlessly, so to speak, munching on his toast and looking about, thinking on what to do. Part one of his master plan had just gone down – Mission Convince Kayla – and now he had to set the next stage into action. He knew that despite what she said, Kayla wasn't going to do this on her own. She still needed a little push.

Or, maybe he also had to work from the other side.

As the idea hit him, Remus couldn't help but feel proud of his own ingenious.

* * *

'Lily.'

He got responses from both Lily and Marlene, who was sitting at the Gryffindor table next to her. The corners of Lily's lips quirked up into a smile. 'Hey, Remus. What's up?'

'Can I talk to you?' he asked. 'Both of you, actually.'

Marlene blinked in surprise as she was added to this conversation, before looking at Lily for consent, who nodded. 'Sure.'

They both scooted back the bench they were sitting on and got up. Remus turned around and walked out of the hall, leading them into a small chamber and shutting the door. He bolted it before turning around. Lily seemed slightly worried, while Marlene simply looked amused.

'What's this about?' the former asked. Remus took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

'Okay, if you're willing, I have a seriously important task to bestow upon you. As in, majorly serious.'

The red head gave a small nod and Marlene raised her eyebrows.

'You want to do it?' he asked uncertainly. 'Even though I haven't told you yet?'

Lily gave a small laugh. 'Remus, you only look this worried when something incredibly important in your life is turning on its side. Of _course_ we're going to help you.'

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. 'Okay, this may be a little bit of a burden.'

'Can you cut to the point, please?' Marlene asked, her eyes wide to the point of owlishness. 'I want to know who you want me to hex.'

Remus blinked. 'No. I don't want you to hex anyone. Sorry if I caused any inconvenience,' he added with a small laugh as her face filled with disappointment.

Lily waved her arms in a _go on_ motion. 'Well?'

'IneedyoutotryandbefriendswithKaylaforme.' It all came out in a jumbled rush, within a matter of seconds his face was flushed.

Marlene's brow furrowed. 'Say that again,' she said, 'slower, and more coherently if you please.'

'Yes,' Lily added. 'I didn't catch that.'

Flushing even redder, Remus started again. 'I can't say why, but I need you to try and be friends with Kayla for me. Please? She really needs some girls in her life.'

Lily gave a small laugh. 'What's so bad about that? You sounded like you were going to ask us to stalk someone or something.'

Remus pulled an awkward face. 'Well, she doesn't interact much with other people and . . . I've been talking to her about it all of last year, and she didn't really do anything. And even though this morning she said she would give it a try, I'm just worried she might find it difficult to follow through with.'

Marlene frowned at him. 'You faithless git! We're _girls_. We can do just about anything. But yeah, in regards to helping you, we will.'

Lily nodded enthusiastically. 'She does needs some more people in her life. No offence Remus, but in some situations you would be completely useless.'

He shrugged offhandedly. 'No offence taken. It's true, anyway.'

Marlene grinned. 'It's fine, trust me. I need some new clothes to steal – ahem, I mean _borrow_,' she said, hastily correcting herself as Lily glared. 'Lil's wardrobe selection is a bit dull. Kayla has some pretty nifty shorts. In all colours of the rainbow, too.'

'Marley!' Lily scolded. The former shrugged. 'It's true. The best you ever have is jeans, sandals and a sparkly singlet top. I need _fluro_, girl!'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'I wasn't talking about that. Anyway,' she said, turning back to Remus, 'don't you worry. We'll talk to her.'

'Just don't say I set you to it. Please?' Remus pleaded. Lily nodded. '_Relax_.'

* * *

**Lily**

'Hey!' Lily greeted brightly as she bounded up next to Kayla. The other girl jumped in surprise and looked around to face her, looking slightly confused. 'Erm, hi.'

Lily spared a quick glance over her shoulder towards the end of the crowded corridor, where Marley was waiting and tapping her foot impatiently. Lily had told her to wait there until further notice (sometimes she could be a bit full on) and that she would talk to Kayla first. Quite frankly, Marley hadn't been too taken with idea.

'How's your day been?'

Kayla blinked owlishly. 'Well, it's been alright, I guess. How was . . . how was yours?'

'Well, I'm yet to see, but I've had a great time so far. Glad to be back?'

Kayla gave a mute nod, before clearing her throat and replying. 'Yeah. You don't get libraries this big everywhere.'

Lily gave a small laugh and nodded, glad to have something they both liked to talk about.

For the next five minutes they chattered, slowly ambling down to the dungeons for Potions. Every once in a while, Lily would check around to see if Marley was still in the area. Finally, when they were almost there, she motioned behind her back that she could join them now.

'Boo!'

It was an understatement to say she was quick on the uptake. Kayla jumped again as Marley vaulted onto Lily's back, tightly circling her arms around her neck. With a slight grunt, Lily laughed and caught her legs, keeping her up.

'_There_ you are,' she said in mock surprise. 'Nice of you to join us.'

'I know,' Marley said mildly, resting her chin atop Lily's head. 'I'm the sort of company everyone would miss _dreadfully_.'

Lily rolled her eyes. 'She's nuts, isn't she?' she said to Kayla, who was looking at Marley with raised eyebrows. She gave a small smile and a nod.

'Hey!' came Marley's remark of indignation.

That was the trigger. All three of them burst into laughter.

* * *

**You know, even for a Potions lecture, this is perfectly rotten – Marley**

Oh, shush. Wiggenweld potions aren't _so_ bad. What do you think, Kayla? – Lily

_Well, I sort of agree with Marlene. It's a bit dull – Kayla_

**HA! See! I finally have someone to back me up. Point one for Marley!**

Don't go getting a big head, now.

**Psh. **_**You're**_** one to talk, Miss I Can Do Potions With My Bloody Eyes Closed. **

_Well, at least this potion is doable. It's not like we're attempting something ridiculously complicated like . . . I don't know. Polyjuice, maybe?_

**You know, I'm surprised you're actually joining in on our note passing. Would've thought you would think we're too mad for you and walked off. Or, well . . . whatever sort of non-interaction you can do in the middle of class, anyway.**

_Marlene . . ._

**Nah, don't call me that. Only the Demon Twins call me that. And my mum when she's brassed off. Call me Marley. Then I know you're not going to try and smother me with makeup.**

Makeup? I'm not even going to _try_ and question that.

**Good decision, Lil.**

I have to say though, what would you do if I cracked out the eyeshadow?

**I would hex you and tie you up with your own four-poster curtains until you rot and die. I won't even attend your funeral. Azkaban would be **_**so**_** worth it. **

Wow, Marls. Just wow.

_Merlin. You two really _are_ mad, aren't you?_

**Hey, she's an observant one!**

* * *

**Kayla**

It had been an . . . interesting day. The whole business with Lily and Marlene – no, Marley – had been odd enough in itself. She wasn't sure if she could call them friends yet, but she definitely felt more comfortable around them. _That_ was saying something. They were both perfectly insane.

Well, maybe insanity could be compatible. Kayla was mad too . . . in her own way.

_Well_, she thought a small smile quirking at the corners of her lips. _Maybe this will work out._

Yeah. Maybe.

Standing before the boys' staircase, she contemplated going up, then paused to wonder if something would go terribly wrong.

She shrugged. She'd never know if she didn't try.

Her foot hovered above the first step, then carefully, she set it down and screwed up her face, waiting for some horribly loud and embarrassing response. Nothing happened.

Still feeling incredibly suspicious, she rose up onto the next. And the next. And the one after that. She still hadn't dropped down an invisible trapdoor or anything.

Soon enough, she got to the second year boys' dormitory. Now wondering if something horrible would happen at the last minute, she pushed the door open.

Oh. Oh _god_.

Nope. This was bad enough in itself. No embarrassing trap needed.

_Merlin._

The dormitory was horrific. Absolutely _horrific_. Dirty laundry was strewn all over the floor, and a layer of crinkled chocolate wrappers topped that. A shoe was hanging all the way up on a bedpost, and the walls were packed with posters, which were mainly bands and motorbikes.

She wrinkled her nose in revulsion. They _lived_ in this environment? In the girls' dormitory, the worst you had to worry about was waking up and immediately having a shoe smack you in the face as its owner tore through their trunk trying to find a shirt that matched what they were wearing.

In the middle of all this chaos was Remus, who was trying to tug on a shirt that had gotten caught around his shoulders. Without meaning to, Kayla gasped.

Scars. Scars as clear as day decorated his bare and scrawny chest, and also covered a noticeable amount of his stomach. They shone bright white against his lightly tanned skin, and worse, there were fresh ones. Along with a partially healed cut that curved all around his left side, there were pink ones that ran diagonally on the opposite hip.

God, and Kayla thought the ones on his _arms_ were bad.

Hearing her sharp intake of breath, Remus whirled about, the shirt tumbling off his head and his arm falling loosely to his side. His eyes widened with horror when he saw Kayla.

'It's nothing,' he said hurriedly. 'Like I said, barbed wire.'

'_Nothing?_' Kayla snapped, striding forward, coming to a stop in front of him. 'Remus John Lupin, if those are _nothing_, then I'm the queen of England!'

'No, I swear,' he said feebly, pulling the shirt on properly. 'Look, please don't -'

'Here's the deal. I don't ask about the scars, and you don't ask about my fantastically brilliant achievements of today. Fair?'

Remus thought about it, the obvious desire to know shining out of every angle of his face. He seemed to be at war with himself for a good thirty seconds.

'Can you just tell me?' he finally asked. Kayla shook her head stubbornly.

He disappeared into his thoughts again, and she came up with a new resolution. 'Fine, I'll tell you, but I'm going to find out what happened anyway. Okay? _Even_ if it means writing to your mother.'

'You _wouldn't_,' he cried, aghast.

'Oh, yes I would.'

He slumped his shoulders, defeat registering on his face. 'I give up,' he muttered. 'But Mum will tell you the same thing. I _did_ have a run-in with wire.'

Kayla narrowed her eyes. The story was way too well rehearsed. She knew it wasn't true, but she wasn't going to let him know that.

'Alright, then. Sit. This story is absolutely fabulous.'

For the first time since her unexpected arrival, Remus smiled slightly.

* * *

**James**

'Oh, _Evans_.'

Evans looked up from her book and frowned at him. 'You're actually in the library, Potter? At six in the evening, too?'

'Why, yes,' he said formally, adjusting his glasses on his nose and sitting down next to her. She wrinkled her nose and leaned away. 'Sometimes, my dear bird, I enjoy the library as much as you do.'

'The day I see you reading a ridiculously huge book, is the day I would do something really stupid.'

'Oh?' James felt an eyebrow travel up his forehead, and he grinned. 'Are we setting a bet here, Evans?'

'Not really,' she said, turning back to her book.

'I think you are.'

She looked back at him. 'What _is_ this bet, then?'

'That I read a "ridiculously huge book" and that you do something "really stupid".'

'What would come under the heading of really stupid for you then, hm?'

'I know! I read this "ridiculously huge book", then you have to kiss me.'

Her eyes widened, and she jumped up. 'Ew! James Potter, you are _twelve_!'

'So are you.'

She shook her head vigorously. 'No. No, no, no, no, no, no, nope. Not a chance. Never going to happen.'

'Alright then,' he said with a grin. 'I'll alter it slightly.'

She narrowed her eyes. 'No kissing.'

'Oh no, I'm not going to cut that. It would be fantastically humiliating for you. I have two years to find the biggest book possible in this library and read it. And, yes, I will read it in your ever-grumpy presence just to prove it. Then, if I've managed to read it all by the first day back in fourth-year, you have to kiss me. Deal?'

'That's never going to happen,' Evans said flatly. 'Not a chance.'

'You shouldn't have made that comment, then.'

She groaned and buried her face in her hands, her red hair shielding both body parts like a curtain. 'I hate you. So bloody much.'

James grinned again. Once it had reached this point, his mission was complete. 'But like you believe, Evans, I might not finish this book. But like I believe, I will.' He laughed, and Madam Pince hissed from the other end of the colossal room. Evans looked up again. 'You're never going to finish that book. You know why? Because I'm going to help you choose it.'

James' stomach dropped into his toes, and his grin faltered slightly. Uh oh.

Delighted to have found a light in this situation, she started to grin evilly. 'Oh, yes,' she continued. 'And I know just the book. Come on.'

Getting up and grabbing James by the wrist, she tugged him through the maze of shelves. Sections flew past at an alarming rate until they came to an abrupt stop in among the fiction shelves.

'You're _not_ going to get me to read a textbook?' James asked, feeling surprised.

She shook her head. 'No, no. Of course not. You need to read an actual book.' She then started searching along the shelves. James hovered behind her anxiously. Finally, she gave a small 'ha!' as she found whatever book she was looking for. She grabbed a chair and pulled it over, standing on top of it. She reached out, and James saw which book she was looking at. Oh _no_.

Grabbing it delicately by the spine and shimmying it out, Evans winced slightly under the weight of the text. She slowly climbed down from her chair, and stood beside James.

'I measured the size of this the other day,' she said with a satisfied grin. 'Five and a half inches thick –' She flipped the book open and showed him the inside. '- Small font -' She lifted a page delicately between her fingers. 'Thin pages, and the best bit -' She closed it and turned to the description on the back. 'It's a sappy _romance_.'

James choked. Genuinely choked. '_Romance?_'

'Ever heard of "Romeo and Juliet"?' she teased. When he shook his head, she continued. 'Well, it's like that in the tragic respect. If you don't cry when reading this, there's something wrong with you.'

With a satisfied grin, she passed the book off to him. James stumbled over the weight. Heck, this was heavy. Just before leaving, she leaned over to whisper something in his ear. 'By the way, this took _me_ half a year to read. I read a huge amount each day, too.'

Laughing lightly to herself, she disappeared around the corner.

James swallowed lightly. _Well._

He flipped the book over to read the cover.

_Love or Magic._

Damn it.

* * *

***cackles*  
**

**James is an idiot.**

**Question: Who are your three favourite music artists/bands, in order if you can. If you can't decide an order, you don't have to. Just list your three favourite.**

**My Answer: **

**1) Taylor Swift (both country and pop)  
**

**2) Nickelback**

**3) Kelly Clarkson**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	19. Year 2-Tryouts

**Oh. My. Freaking. God.**

**8 reviews! AHHH!**

**Well, I had enough bloody trouble trying to get this chapter out. I've got a new laptop to work off (Blackcat gave it to me) but Microsoft Word is having some issues. I press the save button, sometimes it doesn't save. Then I manually go into the SAVE AS option, and sometimes _that_ doesn't work. And I've also done Ctrl S. Can you guess what I was going to say there? Yeah. I had to start over again from a certain point about _three_ times. God. **

**So, for this chapter, I gave up and just Copy-N-Paste ed, and well, it worked. As to how I'm going to save my document, I don't know. If you have any ideas as to what's going on, please tell me. I need all of the help I can get. **

**SomeoneProbablyABitTooObsessed: Ah! I LOVE Queen! And maybe James will have the motivation. You'll have to wait and see, I guess.**

**Fires of Black Chaos: Yeah, it did sound like a mission. XD Girls _are_ like that in real life, though. We jump on each other's backs all the time. Most of the time you have to look behind yourself to make sure no one is coming. **

**Laney (Guest): *squeals with you* AHHH YAY THAT IS SO AWESOME! I'm filling the hole in your soul! Well, you'll be reassured to know this story is going to be running for quite a while.**

**Jennifer (Guest): It's awesome to see you back! To be perfectly honest, I'm very attached to you. Just saying. And with Remus and Kayla, I'm not going to say anything, but answers to those statements will come . . . in not too long, actually. Wait a handful of chapters, and we'll see.**

**Karolz101: Well, yeah. No one's gonna believe barbed wire. I've had run-ins with the stuff myself, and I didn't come out _that_ damaged. Information that is relevant will be revealed soon-ish. Well, like I said with Jennifer, a handful of chapters. Whatever that means.**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Yes, I know you like country. Very much so. And then I come to wonder why you don't worship Taylor with me. **

**Thota Sadhvika Brahmani: THANKYOU! I always have a resolution to update as soon as possible. **

**Pfft no they didn't die: Yeah, James was aiming too high with that bet. He's never going to win it . . . or _will_ he? Heh heh heh . . . And yes, their insanity does compliment each other. Very much so.**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

**_19 – Tryouts_**

**James**

'James! James, you stupid prat, _get up!_'

James rolled over, not bothering to open his eyes. 'Bugger off, Marley.'

There was an audible sigh. 'We. Have. _Tryouts_.'

His eyes popped open and he shot up. 'Say _what?_'

'Tryouts!' Marley hissed, her eyes wild. 'In T-minus four hours!'

James tumbled out of bed. 'Get Sirius up, woman! Come on, we've gotta go! What time is it?'

'Six, and um, Jamesey? I've got something to tell you.'

James paused, with a white shirt half pulled over his head. He didn't like that tone at all. 'What?' he asked slowly.

'Well, Sirius, he . . .' she started, twiddling her thumbs anxiously. 'He's not trying out this year.'

'What?'

She pulled a face. 'You know how there's only two spots on the team?'

James' heart sank. 'Oh.'

'Yeah. He wanted to give us a fair chance of getting on. He told me he'd have a go next year, when Marcus Bell leaves. Said he's always liked Beater more than Chaser, anyway.'

'What about Keeper?'

She arched a dark eyebrow. 'You know I've got that in the bag.'

'True. Now get out so I can change.'

* * *

A cool mist rose up from the grass as they trudged along it, broomsticks in hand.

'Do you seriously think we've got a chance?' Marley asked anxiously.

James waved her off with a small laugh. 'Of course. We've been flying since before we could walk. If we don't get on, whoever makes the decision is obviously mad. We're only practicing so we won't be too shabby for the actual tryouts.'

Marley nodded like she understood, however she still looked worried. All of the confidence she had been wearing ten minutes ago had faded.

'Come on, Marls,' James encouraged. 'We'll be fine.'

'Yeah. I suppose.'

In the time leading up to ten o'clock, the stands steadily filled up with a small number of spectators, some of whom were carrying breakfast they had brought down from the hall with them. James and Marley had abandoned the idea of additional practise with so many people watching, and instead sat on the side of the field, picking blades of grass and making a small pile.

'There you are!'

They both looked up to see Sirius leaning over the edge of the stands, grinning at them. He put the piece of toast he was holding between his teeth and vaulted over the barrier, landing on the ground next to them.

'Pumped?' he asked.

When he was answered with mute nods, he gave an audible sigh and rolled his eyes.

'Somebody's done something to these two!' he announced. 'They've stopped being cocky little brats!'

Marley punched him in the leg. 'Sirius!'

He grinned down at her. 'What about it, Marls?'

She huffed. 'This. Is. Serious.'

'No, I'm Sirius.'

She gave him a flat stare. 'That's not even funny.'

'Ah, no,' Sirius said, spreading his arms wide. 'It never gets old.'

James scanned across the field, his eyes stopping on the group of people gathering in the middle. He grabbed Marley by the wrist. 'We've got to go.'

'Good bye, love!' Sirius hollered in a ridiculously high-pitched voice. When Marley raised her eyebrows, he added: 'I was talking to _James_.'

'You're a bloody married couple,' Marley muttered. James grinned, blowing a kiss at Sirius as he did so. 'I know.'

With a sigh, Marley looped her arm through his so they were linked by the elbows, and tugged him over to the small group of people. In the centre of this mass of people was the captain, Marcus Bell, who was in seventh year. His dark, curly hair was dishevelled as he tried to keep order, but no matter how much he yelled, everyone else talked louder. Finally he just shook his head exasperatedly and looked at his girlfriend, Claudia Green, who was standing next to him. She put both of her hands around her mouth like a megaphone and screamed: '_SHUT UP!_'

It was comical how instantly everyone whipped around, wide eyed. Marcus looked at Claudia gratefully before turning to the masses. Usually he was intimidating enough and was able to take control rather easily. Tryouts however, were apparently a completely different story.

'About bloody time,' he said irritably. 'Now, getting to business, I want to see if any of you can actually _fly_. Get into groups – small ones are preferable – and do a lap around the pitch. If you're unsatisfactory in this, you can take your broom and leave.'

James and Marley exchanged looks and shrugged, before moving over to the nearest group. It was composed of three other people: a tall, dark fifth-year, a slight, mousey-haired third year girl, and a fourth-year James was pretty sure was actually in Hufflepuff.

'Alright!' Marcus shouted. 'Group one, meaning –,' he stopped and pointed at a group, '_those_ guys. Go!'

James could tell these whole tryouts were going to be chaos. Simply in the first group, one tripped over their own broom, two crashed into the goalposts at the other end of the field, one spiralled and started flying in the wrong direction, and the last did a nosedive straight into the ground when they came back. The leverage the broom was given when it was driven in threw its rider a good five metres away. Marcus dismissed them all without batting an eyelash.

The next group did slightly better, with one making it back without any major injury. James and Marley were in the third group, and he wasn't lying when he said that they were easily the best. The fifth year got sidetracked halfway through when his girlfriend turned up and smashed into the goalpost when waving to her, the third year started wailing loudly that miraculously she had "forgotten how to fly" and that it was "positively _dreadful_" (she sounded like Evans), and the Hufflepuff also did well until Marcus realised that he was in the wrong house and bellowed at him to leave. He gave James and Marley grudging smiles of approval when they did a flawless loop around the pitch and made it back in good time.

When all of the groups had been narrowed down to the best (there was a total of five left out of about approximately _thirty_), they were split into two more groups according for the position they were going for. James and Marley went separate ways here, James with two other potential Chasers, and Marley with the other Keeper.

Chaser drills were first. James and the rest of his group flew up into the air, and had to pass thee Quaffle from one end of the pitch to the other without dropping it. The three of them hovered around one end of the pitch until Marcus pulled the ball out of its box, then with a huge thrust, sent it up into the air.

Instantly James zoomed in and caught it, speeding towards the other end of the pitch. Marcus had pulled some of the Gryffindor team members out into the tryouts, and they were acting as the other team, trying to intercept the other three.

As Frank Longbottom made a beeline for him, James turned and tossed the Quaffle to one of the other Chasers, and they fumbled with the ball before dropping it. James grumbled in irritation as Christina Johnson, one of the fourth year Chasers already on the team swooped in underneath and caught it. Not even stopping to hesitate, James sped after her, followed shortly after by the other Chaser who was fighting for a place.

Sparing him a quick glance out of the corner of his eye, James accelerated, coming up beside Christina. Right when he went into intercept her, she threw it back to Frank.

As it soared through the air, James put on a burst of speed and grabbed it before it reached him, speeding towards the goal.

Christina and Frank were gaining on him. Not wasting a moment, he gave an almighty toss and the Quaffle flew through the top goalpost.

'YES!' James yelled, pumping his fist in the air and whirling around to look down on the group on the ground. Marley was jumping up and down and cheering, a broad grin on her face. He sped down towards the ground at a ridiculous pace, pulling up at the very last moment.

'Show off,' Marley said, but she was still smiling.

'I think it's pretty obvious who our Chaser is,' Marcus said, _actually_ looking at James with an expression of pride. The team swarmed him with welcomes and high-fives, all looking excitable. James grinned and returned their praises, feeling a mighty touch pleased with himself.

'You're bloody good for a second year,' Frank said, shaking his hand and clapping him on the back. 'It's about time we saw some new blood as good as you.'

'I take pride in it,' James replied.

'_Too_ much pride,' Marley interjected.

'Alright, no time to lose, Keepers, get over here!' Marcus called. Marley jumped in surprise and whirled around, scuttling to Marcus' side. The other Gryffindor who was trying out, a tall, muscly fifth-year with long, sandy hair also made her presence known. She smirked down at Marley, obviously disbelieving that someone so small compared to her would be battling her for the spot.

'Denise Jones,' she said, sticking her hand out for Marcus to shake it. He did, and by the slight popping sound James heard, she was doing her best to break his hand. He let go extremely quickly before turning to Marley.

'Marlene McKinnon,' she said confidently in answer to his questioning gaze. He gave a curt nod before issuing instructions.

'Go up to either one of the goalposts, and I'll get the Chasers to shoot, five times each. That gives you fifteen shots to get it right. If we're still even then, I'll put you through more drills.'

Both girls nodded, and Marley swung her leg over her broom, aiming to fly up to the nearest set of hoops. Just as she was getting into the air, Denise shoved past her and spun her around to face the other way, before flying up there herself. Marley went slightly red at this, before sticking her nose in the air and flying up to the opposite goalposts.

'Off the field, guys,' Marcus ordered. The Gryffindor team turned on their heels and all made their way up to the grandstands. James could see Sirius waiting, and pulled himself up over the side, tumbling down onto the first row of the stands.

'How'd you go?' Sirius asked questioningly. 'I didn't hear. Or see, for that matter. I got sidetracked.'

James closed his eyes sadly. He could have a bit of fun with this. He proceeded to shake his head slowly, and he heard Sirius draw in a sharp intake of breath.

'_You didn't get on?_' he asked, sounding horrified.

'It sucks,' James muttered. Sirius started to pat him on the back. 'Mate, I -'

'Because you weren't there to see it!' James shouted, now grinning from ear to ear.

' – reckon that's utter rubbish – _what?_'

'I _did_ get on, you ninny!' James laughed, smacking him on the back. 'How can you bloody doubt me? My best friend, my supposed partner in _marriage_, my gay lover -!'

'Alright, I get it!' Sirius said, cutting over him and going red from laughing so hard. 'God, James, some of the stuff you come _up _with!'

'But I _know_ you can't resist my company, Siri -,'

'Marley!' Sirius said, suddenly looking immensely guilty. 'Where is she?'

Turning around, James pointed with a lazy flick of his arm. 'Over there – wait, what? Where -?'

Marley's goalpost was abandoned, but Denise was still hovering up the other end.

'There!'

Sirius was pointing down at the ground. Marley's crumpled form was lying in the sand just below one of the posts.

'Shoot,' Sirius muttered, looking horrified. 'Come on!'

He and James leapt over the edge of the stands and sprinted onto the field. She was curled up, almost like a ball, and facing downwards.

The worst scenarios started coming to James' mind: broken limbs, concussions, or worse, maybe the fall killed her. Feeling sick, James skidded to her side.

Only then, did he realise that he had been wrong.

'I got it!' Marley shouted, looking up at Marcus.

Oh.

_Oh._

She had been wrestling a _bludger._

'You cow!' James shouted, waving his arms about in exasperation. 'You had me so damn worried! Don't do that, woman!'

Marley looked up from the ball. 'Well, maybe if you had been paying attention, you would have known that it was all fine.'

Sirius dropped down beside them. 'You're not dead?'

Marley rolled her eyes. 'Obviously.'

'Oh.' Sirius grinned. 'You got my hopes up for a second.'

Marley glared and smacked him on the arm before getting to her feet, still clutching the bludger tight to her chest. Marcus came over and took the ball from her, relieving her from her duty. 'Now get back up there. We'd all like to get to lunch sooner or later.'

Marley nodded and jumped back onto her broom, shooting back up to her goalposts.

'Chasers!' Marcus called. He tossed the Quaffle at James. 'Get up there, and if she's as good as you are, don't go easy on her.'

James gave a nod and a salute. 'Yessir!'

'Don't do that.'

'Yessir!'

'Bloody hell. Just get up there. Without comment.'

'Yes-no sir!'

James cracked a grin and zoomed up so he was just in front of Marley. 'I'm not going to be kind with this, love!' he called.

'Try me, buddy!' she shot back.

'Oh, I will!'

He tossed the Quaffle at the middle hoop and Marley shot up, catching it against her chest. 'Is that the best you can do?' she asked sweetly.

'No,' James shot back. 'In fact, I'm just getting started.'

Marley tossed the Quaffle back at him, and he caught it, calculating his next move. He grinned as it came to him, and feinted left before shooting right. Marley swooped in and grabbed it.

'You're so predictable,' she teased.

'No I'm not!'

'Then try and beat me!'

James shot below her. Not expecting this, Marley rolled over to catch it a second too late. It soared through the hoop.

'Bugger.'

'You shouldn't have said that, then,' James replied, grinning.

'Yeah, but what if the brute chick over there does better? All because you did something I couldn't catch!'

'I'll go harder on her,' James promised. 'You're the one getting on this team. Not her.'

'I'd better be.'

'Trust me,' James said, tossing the Quaffle again. Marley rolled back over and caught it this time.

'One more shot,' she said. 'Then the others have to shoot.'

James did a three-sixty and belted the ball at the left hoop. She reached out and grabbed it by the tips of her fingers, and winced when there was a nasty crunching sound.

'Shoot, Marls,' James muttered, wide eyed. He flew over to her. She brushed him off when he reached out to inspect the damage.

'I'll be fine,' she insisted. James reached out and grabbed her wrist regardless. Her fingers were smashed and bloody, bending in directions they really shouldn't.

'That's not fine,' he said bluntly.

'Yes. It. Is,' she hissed. 'I'll be fine. No way I'm calling off tryouts. Now go away!'

James put up his hands in surrender. 'Fine. Fine. But make sure you get that checked later.'

* * *

'Here's the problem,' Marcus said, looking at both of the girls. 'You're both sitting on fourteen saves. That means I have to think of something else to decide my Keeper. That means we're all going to lunch late.'

There was an outbreak of groaning from the team, and Marcus gestured for them to be quiet.

'You two,' he said, pointing at Marley and Denise, 'get in the air. We're going to peg a bucketload of these Muggle "basketballs" at you, and whoever catches the most gets the spot. Clear?'

'Crystal,' Marley muttered.

'Up ladies. In the air. Now.'

Marley swung her leg back over her broom and kicked off into the air. Once she was a reasonable height above the ground, she rubbed her hands together. 'Give me your best shot!'

James picked up a ball and tossed it at her. She sped after it, but Denise knocked her out of the way and caught it for herself. She smirked as Marley glared.

'Incoming!' James yelled as he lobbed another one. This one Marley caught.

After that, the barrage of balls really began. The whole time the girls were dropping and catching, dropping and catching. The pattern never changed. Though, what James noticed was that Marley was considerably faster on her broom. She had the better chance of getting on.

After two minutes, Marcus stopped timing and called them back down to the ground. He then started counting through the piles that the girls had dropped below them (both reasonable distances apart so the balls wouldn't be confused) and tallied the results.

The wait was sickening. Marley was pale and not confident in the slightest.

Then Marcus turned around.

'Denise,' he started. Marley looked as though she was going to throw up, and James' stomach dropped.

No.

Marley was supposed to get on. Not this fifteen year-old brute of a girl. She had been working so bloody hard, and she had been counting down to this day since June. No way that it was all going to get crushed now. No way in hell.

'Take your broom and leave,' Marcus said. 'I don't want someone on my team who gets bested by a second year.'

* * *

**Ooh!**

**Question: What country are you from?**

**My Answer: I'm Auzzie, mate! Though, I don't really talk like that. My slang (and cursing) is sometimes more British than Australian. I blame it on this story. *laughs***

**Leave your answers (and some IT help) in the reviews!**


	20. Year 2-The First Time Lily Cut Class

**Hello!**

**I spent both of my maths and history doubles writing this, and now it's done! God, I'm happy we're only doing a half day today. It's a speech day thingy today, and that runs from 3 til 6, and we get to go home at lunch to "get ready". Well, I'm not going at all so I don't have to sit in a revoltingly hot hall for three hours!**

**SomeoneProbablyABitTooObsessed: That's good, because I found Quidditch super hard to write. And Remus, he's coming in this chapter. Last chapter was James centred, because he wasn't getting enough limelight. And . . . oh my god that is so cool! You live in Belgium?! I've barely been out of the state, so that's a problem, but when I finally get out, I'll probably just rock up on your doorstep like 'heeeeeey I'm Ice! Show me Belgium!' I really want to go now. **

**Half-Blood Wizard Tribute: Really? I thought I had done it really badly, and that everyone would see through it, instantly knowing that Marley would get on. Apparently not, because a lot of people were apparently fooled. Haha. **

**Fires of Black Chaos: Yeah, Word's still being a pain, however it's decided it would rather save my stories rather than my schoolwork, now. Blackcat nicked it of me, and I think she may have done something, because it's not screwing up as much. Thanks for the tips though. I'll resort to them if stuff goes haywire again. Ooh! You're American! Well, I'm quarter American (grandma on my mum's side moved here a long time back), though, as you'll remember from my A/N in Calypso, I know absolutely nothing about the place. It would be great to go sometime, though.**

**Pfft no they didn't die: Yeah! *brofist* It's really funny when you hear stuff that is "Australian" but it's really just stereotype, and it always makes me crack up laughing. My god. Though I suppose the singlet-and-thongs-wearing stereotype is worse. Thanks for the congrats! I've made it to 20!  
**

**Earth. bound. wolf: How does THAT work? Do you recall the way that you say taco?**

**ItsAKiliThing: Yes! I've reeled you in! HaHA! Now I can hold the fate of the characters over your head as well as Wolf's. *evil grin***

**Karolz101: Don't worry, Marley's fingers survived ;) AND WE ARE AUSSIE BUDDIES! WOO!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**20 – The First Time Lily Cut Class**_

**Lily**

'Feel like coming down and suffering through Quidditch tryouts with me?' Lily asked, sitting down at the Gryffindor table beside Remus and Kayla. 'I kind of promised Marley I would come, and well, she would kill me if I didn't. Besides, I think the rest of your Marauder clan is already down there. What do you think?'

Remus shrugged offhandedly. 'Yeah. I suppose.' He then turned to Kayla. 'Do you even know what Quidditch _is?_'

She looked offended. '_Yes!_ What sort of a question is that?'

'An honest one.'

She elbowed him. 'You're a prat. And, yeah,' she said, looking at Lily, 'we're coming. Remus has no choice in this. I want to mock the people who can't fly.'

'I don't see how that works . . .' Remus started.

'Then that makes two of us,' Lily said, beaming at Kayla. 'I don't care if I can't play it – haven't even tried – but seeing other people who have such a high ego in regards to their successes _fail _is funny.'

The operation of befriending Kayla was still underway, but Lily didn't mind. She actually _wanted_ to do this. Well and truly. Having Kayla as a friend was something that had been sitting on her mind since first year. Anyway, three mad people was more fun than two. Marley would most likely agree. In her opinion, madness was something that needed to be shared among a multitude of people.

Kayla was still a little shy around them, but she was opening up, which was what Lily considered progress. Anyway, she would adjust in her own time. Lily didn't want to push it.

'Shall we go, then?'

'I s'pose,' Remus said, getting to his feet and pulling Kayla up with him. 'I want to see what those idiots are up to.'

'Keep in mind they're _your_ idiots,' Lily said lightly.

Remus sighed. 'I know.'

* * *

Looking back on it, Lily started to think that _maybe_ they could have chosen a better time to turn up.

' . . . can you bloody doubt me? My best friend, my supposed partner in _marriage_, my gay lover - !'

Lily stifled the laughter that threatened to break through with her hand. Oh wow. Did Potter just _say _that? Beside her, Remus' eye was twitching as he shook his head in amusement. Kayla just went red and looked confused.

They missed the rest of the conversation as the voices of Potter and Sirius faded out, and they took the stairs up to the stands. When they got up there, Sirius was swinging himself over the barrier, looking disgruntled.

'Sirius!' Remus called, skidding down benches to get to him. Sirius pulled a face. 'Marley's a right prat, you know that?'

'What did she do now?' Remus asked tiredly.

'I thought she was dead! She genuinely had me worried for a second there!'

Remus rolled his eyes. 'Well, she's fine now, isn't she?'

'Yeah . . .'

'Right. Now that's over, don't we have tryouts to watch?'

'I think Remus is _actually_ enjoying this the most out of all of us,' Lily whispered to Kayla. She just nodded, looking slightly amused.

'Now we just have to suffer through it,' she muttered back.

Lily agreed.

* * *

**Remus**

The tryouts were finally over, and Kayla had wandered off, chatting amiably with Lily. That was progress. So Remus made his way up to the library, stopping to collect his Potions essay from Gryffindor Tower. When he had slid himself into his favourite chair, he set it down and his quill hovered above the parchment.

He didn't know what to write. He couldn't think.

Damn it, why was it so difficult for him to leave her alone?

He kept telling himself: _It's not safe. You need to go. Leave her with the girls. _But he just couldn't. It was something about her adorable innocence that made him want to stay; to protect her.

But, he realised, she wouldn't need protecting because he was the danger. If he stayed away, she would be completely safe.

She wouldn't like him distancing himself though, because she didn't know. Not that she could. If Remus told her she would be horrified. She would know how much of a monster he really was.

And he knew that would hurt most of all.

* * *

**Lily**

On Monday morning, two weeks later, Lily stepped out of the bathroom with one towel around her torso and another bundling up her dripping hair. She was late enough as it was, but she had overslept. Maybe she was making too much of a fuss over these assignments late at night.

She walked past Claire, who was sitting on her bed with her hair twisted up in rags. Imogen was sitting beside her, and for once her hair looked like a natural shade of strawberry-blonde. She was also wrapping her hair up in strips of material. Completely ignoring them, Lily crossed the room to her trunk and flipped it open, rummaging through it for her uniform.

She pulled out a pair of shorts to wear underneath her skirt, then a tie. Then she sat back on her haunches. Where was her shirt? And her skirt? And, for that matter, her robes?

She stood up and looked on her bed, searching underneath the blankets. She wriggled her way all the way down to the bottom, but only found a stray sock.

Did the house elves take _all_ of her laundry?

No, that couldn't be right. She could have sworn she had a clean set in her trunk. She remembered folding and putting it away last night. So where was it?

Her eyes travelled across the room to Claire and Imogen, who were sitting and looking innocently at her.

'Is something wrong, Lily?' Claire asked, her voice perfectly angelic.

'Missing something?' Imogen added. They both looked really stupid with knobbly bumps of material all over their heads.

'Yes,' Lily muttered. 'Have you seen my uniform?'

They said nothing. Lily's eyes wandered to the rags in their hair. Claire's were black, and Imogen's were a mix of white and dark grey.

Then it clicked.

'You didn't!' Lily cried.

'Didn't what?'

'You – you cut up my uniform! _For hair rags!_'

'Don't be so selfish, Lily,' Claire snapped. 'Maybe you should think about others, instead of it all being about you. So what if you don't have a uniform? Just go in that!'

She pointed to the towel that Lily still wore tightly wrapped around herself.

Then they both got up, tapped their heads with their wands, and the rags tumbled out leaving heavy ringlets in their place. They smirked at her, then walked out. 'See you in Transfiguration, Lily! I'm sure McGonagall will be waiting for you!'

The door slammed shut. Lily whirled around and darted to Marley's trunk, flipping it open. Sure, she was slightly taller than her, but her uniform would have to do.

She riffled through the mess, tossing out shirts and shoes, but came away with nothing. She didn't even leave a dirty set on the floor.

Then, getting extremely desperate now, Lily ran over to Kayla's trunk, being slightly neater in regards to the mess she made. Everything was neatly sorted, but there were no uniforms left.

There was no point in looking through the Demon Twins'; they would have made sure she wouldn't find anything.

For the first time in her life, Lily swore. Colourfully. And, quite frankly, she only knew the word because Potter and Sirius were fond of using it after they picked it up from a sixth year.

She sat limply down on her bed. What was she going to do now? She had nothing to wear. Those girls had cut up her shirt, skirt and robes.

She had to miss out on class. She had no choice. She would most likely get a detention, but that couldn't be helped. She was stuck.

She sniffed, her eyes going blurry. No way. This just wasn't fair.

She threw herself onto Marley's bed, ignoring the towel when it tumbled off her head, and buried her face in the covers.

* * *

She didn't know how long she lay there and sulked, but several hours later by her guess, there was the sound of someone thundering up the spiral staircase and throwing open the door.

'_Shoot, _Lil,' Marley muttered. 'What happened?'

Lily made an inaudible response, and by the sound of it, Marley was starting to laugh.

'Oi, Kayla, get up here would you? There's a Lily sulking on my bed!'

There was a slightly muted response and footsteps seemed to be coming up the staircase again. 'If I'm going to be subjected to _sulking_ for the next six years, Marley, I can guarantee that I'll be no help whatsoever.' Kayla's voice rang up the tower, and of all things it sounded slightly irritable. Her footsteps stopped in the dormitory, and she muttered, 'okay Lily, who hexed you?'

'No one hexed me.'

'What happened, then?' The bed groaned slightly as Marley sat down beside her and pulled Lily's head into her lap with one bandaged hand, forcing her to look up. Her brown eyes were serious as they scanned Lily up and down. 'Why are you wearing a towel?'

'Demons cut up my clothes.'

'_What?'_

Lily sat up, making sure the towel was still securely wrapped around herself. 'Claire and Imogen cut up my only clean uniform and used it for hair rags.'

'They _didn't_,' Kayla muttered, horrified.

Marley stood up. 'Right, I am going to hunt down those bi -'

'_Marley!_'

'Female dogs,' Marley continued, undeterred, 'and I will smash their heads in good and proper. Then I'll chop up _their_ uniforms!'

'I really don't think there's any need for –' Lily started.

'Yes, there is,' Kayla cut in. 'Look, I can't say I know you guys all that well, and, heck, I'm not sure if we're even friends, but no one has the right to do that. No one.'

Lily and Marley blinked, stunned. Kayla took a steady breath.

'What the hell makes you think we're not friends?' Marley asked flatly.

She shrugged. 'I don't know.'

'Well, for the record,' Lily said, sitting up, 'we are. Just so we're clear on that. Okay?'

It was Kayla's turn to blink. 'Okay. But anyway, maybe we should order you some new ones in. I'm sure Madam Malkin does deliveries.'

Lily sighed. 'You know what? That's a great idea, and I'm absolutely through with this. We'll go to the Owlery in a second. Just let me change.'

* * *

**Kayla**

'Miss Evans.'

The three of them paused as they walked away from the Owlery, and Lily looked sick. Slowly, they all turned around to face Professor McGonagall, who was regarding them with a cool stare. 'Why weren't you in class today?'

'Please, Professor,' Lily pleaded. 'It wasn't my fault. Cl – someone cut up my uniform. The rest were in the wash and I couldn't get them. I didn't have anything else to wear. I'm really sorry.'

McGonagall regarded her for a second. 'Who did this?'

'I don't know, Professor,' Lily said, her eyes looking slightly anxious from the lie she was telling. Why wasn't she telling her about Claire and Imogen? She had every right to.

'Make sure it doesn't happen again, Miss Evans. Unfortunately, skipping class - despite the circumstances – is unacceptable. You have a detention. Professor Slughorn needs some help in cleaning out his Potions stores.' She gave Kayla and Marley a curt nod and turned, walking back down the corridor. Lily looked horrified.

'She gave me a detention?' she whispered hoarsely. 'Why?'

'Lil, I think she knew you were lying,' Marley said. 'Why didn't you sell those brats out?'

'Because it wasn't worth it,' Lily shot back. 'They're not worth it.'

That shut Marley up.

* * *

Right. It was time to deal with this mess.

'Remus.'

Remus looked up from his book, and jumped off the armchair he was sitting on in front of the fireplace. 'Kayla! Look, um, I'm really busy at the moment. I'll talk to you later, okay?'

Without waiting for response, he disappeared up the boys' staircase. Kayla groaned.

He had been doing this for the last _two freaking weeks_. What was up with that? And it didn't change that he was still going missing. Kayla knew that whatever was happening last year was still going on. And it _wasn't right_.

It was time to do some digging.

* * *

'James. Sirius.'

The two boys looked up from the frog they were prodding with their wands. Well, if it could be called a frog. It was bright purple and had swollen to the size of a basketball. Kayla rolled her eyes. 'I need to talk to you about something.'

'Did that cat come with you?' Sirius asked suspiciously, looking at the empty courtyard behind her. His question was answered when Chance dropped down from the tree above him and landed on his head, bounding off and landing in his lap. He groaned audibly. James gave the frog one final prod and laughed when it sprouted spikes on its back, before looking at Kayla. 'What's up?'

'You'll agree with me when I say that Remus has always acted a bit weird, yeah?'

'Yeah,' he replied, getting to his feet. 'What's the prat been doing now?'

'Avoiding me. I want to work out what's with his I-need-to-disappear-once-a-month issue.'

'It's a bit odd, isn't it?' Sirius said. 'I mean, I've had some fabulous guesses -'

'Sirius has this stupid theory that Remus is a werewolf,' James said flatly. 'Ridiculous, eh?'

Kayla's stomach dropped. 'What?' she asked hoarsely.

The grin was wiped off James' face. 'You don't believe it, do you?'

Kayla stepped back. 'Come on. Get Peter if you want, but meet me in the Astronomy section of the library in five.'

* * *

'You're mad. He's not a werewolf. He can't be. Sirius was just being stupid with his knowledge of magical stuff,' James tried weakly.

Kayla spread a handful of star-charts out on the desk. 'We'll never know unless we check,' she said flatly. Peter picked one of them up. 'Well, I know he wasn't here then,' he said, pointing to the calendar. A full moon was drawn above the date. 'Remember that giant Potions exam we had last year?'

'I _do_, actually,' James muttered, leaning in for a closer look. 'But that doesn't necessarily mean anything.'

'But look here,' Kayla said, pointing to another date. 'And here. And here. There's a pattern. He wasn't here on those days, and they're _all full moons._'

'You're kidding me,' Sirius whispered. 'Bloody _kidding_ me.'

'It makes sense,' Kayla breathed. 'I've seen Madam Pomfrey taking him down to the Whomping Willow before. It was on a full moon, too. Maybe there's something connected to it? A passage underneath, perhaps?'

'That's crazy, but it's possible,' Peter said. 'Very possible.'

'And the scars. Everyone's seen those smaller ones on his arms, but the ones on his stomach and back are _huge_.'

'And how have you seen those?' James inquired with a raised eyebrow and a slight grin. Kayla flushed but continued, undeterred. 'I may have walked in on him when he was . . . shirtless,' she muttered, her face going redder by the second. Sirius gave a barking laugh.

'That's priceless!'

'Shh!'

'Priceless!' he repeated in a harsh whisper, his eyes shining with tears of laughter.

'The point _is_ something keeps hurting him. He's always got fresh ones. And some are really old, too. I think he's been dealing with those for a couple of years.'

'A couple of years?' James asked incredulously, all looks of amusement now gone.

'That's an assumption, anyway.'

'So, you really think he is? A werewolf, I mean?'

'We'll never know unless we talk to him about it. He's not getting out of answering. I'm sick of all this "I'm busy" rubbish, and if lycanthropy is the reason he's avoiding me, he's being stupid. Completely and utterly stupid.'

* * *

**Dun dun duuuuuuuuun!  
**

**Question (if you can focus on it): Favourite colour?**

**My Answer: Purple. Mainly in varying shades of violet.  
**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	21. Year 2-Revelations

**Heeeeeey!**

**My god this heat is something rotten. All weekend, I SWEAR I was covered in this layer of sweat the entire time! And even worse, I would drench my face with cold water, towel it off, and seconds later (I mean SECONDS) I would be sweating again. It was disgusting! And it's still horrible!**

**Fires of Black Chaos: Don't worry, I've always known you were a bloke. Aaaannd, you can trust me on saying that this story will be going on for a while (we're barely into second year!). But that doesn't mean I won't try to make you cry. Mwhahahaha . . . .  
**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Yeah, I get it. But you see, I was roasting alive, flopping about and moaning on the couch in the front room and writing a chapter for the other story. It took time, okay?**

**Thota Sadhvika Brahmani: I'm Australian, aaaaand my name is so horrible it's not worth repeating, so call me Ice or Unicorn. Both are way better.**

**Guest: Haha! Yes! Purple is the supreme colour! It over-rules all!**

**Karolz101: Read on!**

**Okay, guys, there's something really important I want to talk to you about. **

**WE'RE NEARING 100 REVIEWS!**

**I really want to hit it as soon as possible, okay? For me? Please?**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**21 – Revelations **_

**Kayla**

'You're crazy.'

Kayla shook her head. 'No. I'm not. We have to talk to him about this. It's the only way.'

'Shortie's actually right, James,' Sirius said. 'If the prat thinks he can hide something like that from us for the whole of the seven years, he's mad.'

'I just want to know why he didn't trust us enough to tell us,' James muttered.

'Come on,' Kayla said, scooping the charts together into a neat pile. 'Let's go find him.'

* * *

They found Remus, who was back in the common room again. Upon seeing them, his eyes widened an alarm and he shut his book, getting to his feet and bolting back up the staircase.

'I'm sick of this crap,' Kayla muttered. She held her head high and charged on after him, the Marauders following in suit.

She ran up the spiral staircase, running her hand along the stone wall as she did so. Just as they were nearing the dormitory, there was the telltale sound of something opening and slamming shut again. They reached the door and Kayla threw it open, her irritation really starting to build up. Remus, who had just thrown himself onto his bed, sat bolt upright.

'REMUS LUPIN! STOP _BLOODY _RUNNING AWAY FROM ME! I HAVE TO FREAKING TALK TO YOU!_'_

Even the boys that followed her in shrunk back slightly, her yelling was that intimidating.

Remus took a shaky breath. 'Look, Kayla, I -'

'You've what, huh? Been avoiding me for the most _stupid _of reasons? Driving me absolutely insane?' She quieted down. 'We need to ask you about something, Remus.'

His face paled, and he mouthed something along the lines of _oh no_.

'We've been looking into this since last year,' James said, striding forward. 'And I don't know how it's only just hit us now -'

'I _told_ you I had theories,' Sirius interjected.

'And you made them sound really daft,' James shot back. 'Anyway, the point is . . . we know, Remus. You don't have to hide it anymore.'

'You'd be stupid if you tried to hide it,' Peter said as Remus opened his mouth to defend himself.

'I – _what are you on about?_' Remus asked nervously, getting to his feet. 'I mean, come on –'

'Rem,' Kayla said flatly. 'You know what we're talking about.'

That cut him short. There was a conflicting war in his eyes, one side of his head fighting with the other. It seemed to go back and forth. There were five seconds of silence before Remus threw his hands up in exasperation. 'You know what? Fine! So what? I mean, it's not as if it's something horrible or anything. And, yeah, I could just as easily kill any of you if you got in the road without thinking twice about it -'

'REMUS!'

The shout came from all four of them, each looking particularly brassed off. Kayla took a steady breath.

'We don't care, okay? We don't care what you are. You're still Remus. You're still our friend. That's never going to change.'

Remus' eye twitched. 'I'm a monster, Kaye. Don't you get that? A vicious, bloodthirsty _monster_.'

'You fold your _socks_,' James said flatly. 'Yeah, you're _really _terrifying._'_

'You wear stupid sweaters,' Sirius put in.

'And you're an absolute dork,' Peter added.

'Thanks, guys,' Remus muttered.

'Don't you get it, Rem?' Kayla asked softly. 'We don't care. You have to realise that.'

'But _I_ care! As long as I'm around, I'm putting you all in danger. And I'm not sure if I can deal with that.'

'Well, you're going to have to. Because we're not leaving you. Not now, not ever. Okay?'

'No.' Remus shook his head. 'No. I just can't.'

Kayla grabbed both of his hands, looking him urgently in the eyes. 'Yes, you _can_. And you _will_. We're going to help you.'

'Say it out loud,' Remus whispered. 'I want to see if you _really_ know.'

One second.

Two.

They dragged on

And on

And on

On

On

On . . .

Her heart was pounding violently in her chest. She could tell the others were thinking the same as her. She just couldn't say it. Voicing the word would put reality to the concept.

A shadow passed over Remus' eyes. 'Thought so.' He wrenched his hands out of hers.

'Werewolf,' she burst out. 'You're a werewolf.'

Halfway through turning around, Remus paused. 'And . . . _what_ does that mean?'

'We know perfectly well what it means,' James said. 'And you know that. _You're_ just having trouble accepting that we're not running away screaming. Aren't you.'

'_Accepting?_' Remus choked out. He turned back around. 'James, I've had to move homes a ridiculous amount of times. All because the neighbours were getting suspicious about what they heard. Do you know _what_ they heard?'

James didn't respond.

'A werewolf,' he started, 'with nothing to attack; to bite. A werewolf that had to resort to attacking itself to deal with the frenzy. It took me ages to _accept_ that I'm stuck with this for the rest of my life. I came to terms with it, my mother did, my dad took a while, but he's began dealing with it just now. But other people don't. Because when they think about werewolves, they think about rampant beasts, which_ are_ what we really are. But what they don't know is that behind all of that is a terrified twelve-year old who has had to deal with it since he was seven.'

'_Seven?_' Kayla repeated in a harsh whisper.

'Seven. And there was nothing I could do about it.'

'But . . . _Remus_. Why didn't you tell us? Do you –' Her voice broke slightly. 'Do you not trust us or something?'

'No,' Remus murmured. 'I was just worried that you would hate me. I mean, I deserve it –'

Sirius took two giant steps forward and clamped a hand over Remus' mouth. 'Shut. Up,' he growled. 'If I hear one more bloody comment about you being a monster and all that rubbish, I will toss you out the window. Got it?'

Remus' eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything.

'He's right, Rem,' Kayla echoed. 'You really need to stop it.'

'And whatever the hell it takes to prove this to you-' James started.

'I'm hungry,' Peter said quietly.

'-we will freaking _do_ it. Got it?'

Remus didn't say anything, and a number of silent seconds passed. Kayla's heart was pounding violently in her chest. She didn't understand why he wasn't believing them when they told him they didn't care. It was stupid, really. He had to see that.

Then again, maybe it was because he couldn't see what they saw; a boy with the constant need to study, who always did what he felt was right, who _barged_ his way right into Kayla's life just so she could live it properly . . .

Damn it, she really hoped that he wasn't developing an inferiority complex. Because that wouldn't be any good.

Werewolves weren't all bad. Kayla had proof, and that proof was standing right in front of her. Who would have known that werewolves had cheeky smiles and wore jumpers slightly too big for them. Who would have known that they were so endearing and caring – that they put the well-being of others before themselves. Who would have known that they had a stupid sense of humour, naming cats after fried chicken and complaining when the animal hated them. And who would have known that they were absolutely _perfect_, despite the popular opinion . . .

Why didn't the world see this side to them? _Why_ didn't they give them a chance? Why didn't they see that the sometimes savage nature couldn't be helped; that it was in their blood?

For God's sake, why didn't anyone find a _cure?_

This prejudice wizards had against werewolves was just wrong. Kayla could see that now, and a resolution had formed that if _anyone_ hurt Remus, they would have hell to pay.

'I'm dangerous,' Remus whispered. 'Don't you get it?'

'But you haven't _hurt_ anyone!' James burst out. Remus' eyes shot up to meet his, a fierce light burning in them. 'Haven't I, James?'

James' eyes narrowed. 'Remus . . . what are you talking about?'

'You think I _haven't_ hurt someone.' Remus' voice cracked on_ haven't_. 'You think that it's been fine this whole time, just me and my madness?'

'Remus -'

'BECAUSE IT HASN'T, ALRIGHT? IT BLOODY _HASN'T_ AND I DON'T THINK I WILL EVER BE OKAY AGAIN! I KNOW WHAT I'M CAPABLE OF! I KNOW WHAT I CAN DO TO YOU!'

His eyes were glossy, and he stopped, taking a deep breath. 'I don't _want_ to hurt you. But I'm afraid I will. I don't want to risk it.'

'What are you risking, Remus?' Kayla asked. 'You're not even here when you're a wolf. How can you hurt us?'

'Confinement doesn't last forever,' he whispered. 'And I know mine won't. I'm still growing, and as I do, I get even more savage. It won't be long. I can feel it.'

There were several long seconds of silence before Sirius spoke. 'You attacked someone, didn't you? What happened?'

Remus sat back down, looking sickened. 'I never meant to,' he started quietly. 'I really didn't, and I didn't know until the next day . . .'

He didn't continue though, but sat there, starting at his feet quite like he was going to vomit. So Kayla tried to make it easier for him. 'When?'

He chewed his lip and closed his eyes, taking a long, steady inhale. When he opened them again, he looked her straight in the eyes. 'The holidays.'

That made her freeze in place. What? But, he had been writing to her the whole time . . . he didn't sound like something of the sort had happened . . .

'But you didn't -'

'Of _course_ I didn't say anything!' he burst out, throwing his arms out in exasperation. 'What was I supposed to say? Was I _supposed _to reveal that I was a werewolf, had savaged a Muggle and had been called to court?'

Kayla nearly fell over. '_You went to COURT?_'

Remus froze, suddenly realising that he had said too much. 'No – no I didn't . . . what are you on about, Kaye?' He gave a nervous laugh. 'I was joking, that didn't really happen -'

'Or didn't it?' she inquired with a raised eyebrow, her voice dangerously low. 'Didn't it, _Remus?_'

He swallowed lightly. Behind Kayla, the Marauders were looking mutinous.

'_Remus_,' Sirius said. His voice had a sharp edge to it. James crossed his arms, his face hard. Peter looked unamused, his blue eyes studying Remus in quiet anger.

'What. Happened?' James' asked in a steely voice.

'I – nothing. Nothing happened, James.'

James' eyes narrowed, and he slipped his wand out of his jeans.

'Don't you d – argh!'

One minute, Remus was standing solidly on his two feet, the next James had shouted '_Levicorpus!' _and he had gone up into the air, hoisted by his ankle.

'My patience is wearing thin, Remus,' James said, striding forward. 'Sorry that it's come to this, but you gave me no bloody damn choice.'

Remus was going red as the blood rushed to his face, choking slightly and flailing his arms about. 'James! Let me –' He broke off and groaned as his face started going purple.

'I'll let you down if you tell us,' James said flatly.

'Fine! Just – just – oomph!'

In a tangled mess, Remus tumbled to the ground. He got to his feet hurriedly and brushed himself off, glaring at James. His face slowly started returning to its normal colour.

'Thanks a lot, you prat,' he grumbled.

James ignored this comment and shoved his wand back in his pocket. 'I do believe you have a story to tell, Remus.'

Remus took a breath, looking irritable. 'Fine. For god's sake, if you _really_ want bloody "Story Time with Remus", just shut up and let me get it out, okay?'

Sirius grinned, liking this idea. He promptly sat down on the floor at Remus' feet, looking straight up at him. 'If it's Story Time, we might as well do it properly.' He grabbed James by his pant leg and tugged him down beside him. The unsuspecting boy went down with a crash as he hit the floor a lot harder than he should have. Peter just flopped down beside them both. All three of them looked at Kayla expectantly. She rolled her eyes and gave a dramatic sigh before sitting down where she was. Sirius grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to the rest of the group. She slid along the floor with an exclamation of complaint before pulling a face and crossing her arms.

Nobody did anything. Seconds passed in silence, before Sirius waved his arms about. 'Well? You've got a bloody story to tell us, don't you, Moony?'

Remus blinked. 'Moony?'

'It's fitting. Don't you lot reckon so?'

The other two Marauders made noises of agreement, nodding their heads. Kayla just sighed.

'Right,' Remus started. 'Well . . . I've only been told what happened. I don't remember it for myself. But . . . apparently one night I broke out of the woodshed in the backyard . . .'

'So that's what you mean by "confinement doesn't last forever",' Kayla said slowly. Remus nodded, looking slightly green.

If he broke out, he must have been really strong . . . or really savage. The thought worried Kayla. And to think, he wasn't a fully grown werewolf yet . . . What would he be capable of when he was?

'Well, I got out onto the street . . . and there were Muggles there . . .'

Oh no. _Oh no_.

The other three were also looking slightly worried.

'In short, I attacked one and put them in St Mungo's,' he said, all in one breath. He stopped and watched them carefully.

Kayla sat silently for a moment, letting that all sink in.

_I attacked one and put them in St Mungo's . . ._

He had _actually_ attacked someone. That was why he was so anxious since term started. Granted, he had only lasted two weeks before they found out, but . . . wow. Just wow.

'So . . . what happened?' she pressed, dreading the answer.

'Got called for a hearing,' Remus said matter-of-factly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. 'I got off, but . . . that lady really didn't like me.'

'Who?'

'Whoever was running it. The hearing, I mean. I don't remember her name – Elizabeth or something? – but she really seemed to have something against werewolves. She tried to get me . . .'

'She tried to what?' James pressed.

'She – she tried to get me sent to an asylum.'

There was a collective gasp, just like in the classic story-tellings.

'Right, where is she?' Kayla growled, going to get to her feet. 'I am going to hunt down that -'

'At the present moment I am really thinking that is unnecessary,' Sirius said, grabbing her by the wrist and reining her back in. Kayla gave him a heavy glare. He shrugged, giving her an _it's true_ sort of look. She sighed in irritation and gestured for Remus to continue.

'That's it,' Remus said. 'Seriously, nothing else really happened. I got off, came back to school paranoid as hell and started hoping I could distance myself from the lot of you to keep you safe – you know, standard stuff.'

Kayla's eyes narrowed. 'So you _were_ trying to avoid us! You weren't just being stupid for no reason whatsoever?'

Remus shook his head. 'No, that came out wrong, I -'

'No, I get it,' Kayla said, getting to her feet. 'You thought that we would judge you, or that we would . . . who _knows_ what you would come up with, but that's not the point!'

She was fuming, her fists clenching and unclenching. She was seeing it all now. And it was starting to really _sting_.

'You weren't thinking about the fact that we were your _friends!_' she very nearly shouted, her voice rising. 'So even _when_ you were worried about our safety, which is really stupid, you wouldn't tell us why you were being a prat like you were! That was why I had to go looking into it!'

'Wait, no.' Remus' brow was furrowing as his own face lined itself with anger. 'So you wouldn't have even known by now if you hadn't been looking into it? All because I was trying to _protect you_?'

'Would you stop it with this "protecting us" rubbish? Why won't you see that we don't need you to do that? You wouldn't let us in on all of this, just because you were afraid we would judge you, _hate you_, even! You didn't have any faith in us, did you?'

'Yes I did!' Remus shouted back. 'You just don't get it! Do you know what this sort of thing is like for me, Kayla? Do you?'

'Yes, I get _that!_ What I don't get is why you had that view on us! Why did you think that we would judge you?'

'Because I've grown up knowing that it was the only thing that would ever happen to me! I had to realise that I was going to deal with stuff like that for the rest of my life, and that I was going to have to come to terms with is and get used to it! I'm used to it now, and it's a reflex action for me!'

His face trembled with anger. Kayla ignored the violent beating of her heart and instead focused on the rage pumping through her veins. She was good at fighting. Just like her mum.

'Well sometimes you have to think and take control of those reflex actions! Because sometimes they will screw up and you will be stuck, Remus, you will be _stuck!'_

That was a Caroline Edwards quote, taken straight from one of her battles . . . against one of her late boyfriends, actually. She really was a nice woman, and Kayla loved her, but for some people . . . relationships just never work out for them, no matter how hard they try. They just constantly crack and crumble. But like the soldier she was, Caroline continued on, trying to find someone she cared for and got along with, just so Kayla could have a father again. Kayla had been especially grateful to her grandparents for looking after her while her mother was working, as they did their best to fulfil the role a father generally would; coming on holiday trips and taking her around England, but it was never quite the same.

Remus took a steady breath, trying to control his anger. 'I'll be _stuck_, will I?'

'Mum and Dad are fighting,' Peter whispered in a weak attempt to add humour to the heated argument.

'Yes you will!' Kayla shouted back, completely ignoring the blonde boy and still focusing on Remus. 'And I wish you would see that!'

'Well maybe -!'

'As a return question, do you know what this is like for _us? _Never knowing what's going on and wanting to _help you?_' she snapped, turning around and walking to the door. As she pulled it open, Remus shouted, 'well maybe I don't, but I really _try!_'

Not even turning to look at him, she walked out and slammed the door.

* * *

**And ending it on that note . . .  
**

**Question: Summer or winter?  
**

**My Answer: I'm a winter child, because it gives me an excuse to bundle up under a million blankets. I live for blankets. **

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	22. Year 2-That Poor Bird

**I am NOT guilty! HaHA! You lot needed to experience a cliffhanger where you had to wait. I update way too frequently.**

**Just kidding. This week I just had a random moment where I was inclined to spend all of my free time playing Warcraft 3 all over again. So, chapters had to wait. But don't worry, things will be back to normal when I pull myself out of this phase. Trust me, it doesn't take me too long to complete a game. And this is including school, writing, gymnastics and eating food. **

**Pfft no they didn't die: I know! It's been all over the bloody place and I hate it, because I never know what to do! And damn I am grateful holidays are in a week. I've had enough. Plus, holidays means more time for writing!**

**Fires of Black Chaos: I totally agree with you there. In summer, I roast like a . . . (chicken? fish? duck? porcupine?) a . . . I don't know. **

**Guest: I know, right! I love Remus to bits and pieces and he is my baby and only I am allowed to inflict mental pain upon him. Yeah, I know. That's how I show my love. Haha. I'm pretty sure I would be friends with Lily, as Marley happens to be, and Marley is simply an awesome copy of me with way more social skills and talent. **

**luzhasswag: Dun dun duuuuuun! It just about sums up everything, doesn't it?**

**Thota Sadhvika Brahmani: Oh, trust me. It gets bloody _hot_. It's not as bad as some of those deserty countries, but we've hit 40 in Celsius a couple of times. And maybe gone over, but I just can't remember. Where I am, we don't get snow in winter. In fact, the only place I know for certain that gets snow is Cooma (down near Canberra, capital of the ACT). Otherwise, yeah. If you want to come to Australia, bring an air-con. Haha.**

**Earth. bound. wolf: Though half the time even _they_ don't work!**

**ItsAKiliThing: Yeah, I think that developing Kayla's character to become a more mature one is pretty important at this point in time, because her upbringing practically demands for her to grow up earlier, and she is also learning some important values. And yeah, Remus really needs telling off sometimes. **

**That's all for now, my lovelies! I will see you at the bottom of the page!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**22 – That Poor Bird**_

**Remus**

As the door shut with a huge slam, all four of them were left in shock for a few minutes. Kayla's words were racing through Remus' head over and over again; a never ending cycle.

_You will be stuck, Remus, you will be stuck . . ._

_Sometimes you have to think and take control . . ._

_You didn't have any faith in us . . ._

The worst thing was seeing her angry. Genuinely angry. But then, he was just as furious. He had shot back with his own comments.

James finally snapped out of the slight trance they were all in. 'Mate, you have to follow her! Go on!'

Remus, suddenly realising that he was right, swore and ran across the room, throwing the door open and bolting down the staircase.

Where would have she gone? The girls' dormitory?

Thinking that it was his best option at the moment, when Remus got into the common room he made a beeline straight for the other staircase, running up it.

He made it about three steps up before an ear-splitting, siren-like wail rang out and the stairs suddenly became a chute. Not expecting this, Remus let out a yell and tumbled backwards, sliding down to the bottom on his backside. Small clusters of people from all over the common room started laughing and Remus got to his feet, blushing furiously. James, Sirius and Peter shot down the boys' staircase two seconds later.

'What did you do?' Sirius asked, looking as though he were about to burst into laughter. Remus shook his head. 'Nothing.'

* * *

**Kayla**

A horrible, wailing sound rang up the tower.

Kayla and Lily looked up from their positions on Lily's bed, Lily still with her arms wrapped around the other girl. 'What was that?'

Marley, who had been sitting on the end of the bed, got up. 'I'll go scout.'

'Okay. Are you going to tell us now?' Lily asked, looking at Kayla, who was pretty sure her cheeks were still blotchy. She shook her head.

'Wait 'til Marley comes back. Then we'll conference.'

Lily gave a small nod. Marley stepped out the door and teetered on the edge of what looked like a slide. 'Woah!'

She turned to give the other two an_ I'm-not-stopping-here-okay?-This-looks-like-it-will-be-hilarious _sort of look. She then ran back in, grabbed her broom, sat on it and hovered a few feet above the ground, going out into the staircase. She was gone for about a minute before she returned.

'Remus tried to get up,' she said flatly, tossing her broom onto her bed. 'Right . . .' She climbed back onto Lily's bed with the other two, drew the curtains and muttered _Silencio_ under her breath.

'Just in case the demons come in,' she said in answer to their questioning expressions. 'Now, spill.'

* * *

**Remus**

'Did it actually just turn into a slide?' James asked incredulously. Remus nodded mutely. Silently, the chute then morphed back into a set of stairs.

'Right,' James said. 'Desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, I have an idea.' He turned and disappeared up the boys' staircase.

'Know what he's gonna do?' Peter asked. Both Remus and Sirius shook their heads.

* * *

**Kayla**

The wail rang out for a second time and Marley groaned, rolling her eyes. 'Not again,' she muttered.

Then it happened again.

And again.

And again.

And again . . .

* * *

**Remus**

'You're not being very helpful,' Remus said flatly, his arms crossed over his chest.

James slid down the chute again, the rug he had brought out still beneath him. 'But it's fun.' He picked it up, waited a second until the stairs reformed, then ran up as fast as he could before the siren restarted, then swiftly plopping down on the rug again. He skidded back down at Remus' feet.

'Was this,' Sirius asked, 'the desperate measures, or the idea?'

'The idea,' James responded, disappearing up the staircase again. One shriek later, he was back down with them.

'So what were you going to do that was helpful?' Remus posed, his tone unamused. James seemed to remember this and jumped to his feet. 'Be right back!'

* * *

**Kayla**

'So, he didn't trust you, but you can't tell us what with?' Marley summed up. Kayla just nodded. Lily hugged her.

'Aww, honey. That's not good, even though he's an idiot sometimes. Maybe he just wasn't thinking properly.'

'Does he _ever_ think?' Marley asked incredulously.

'More than Potter does,' Lily responded. Marley raised her hands defensively. 'Never said he did.'

Lily made a noise somewhat like a _humph_ and crossed her arms.

The sun was just starting to set on the grounds outside, casting an orange glow through the window and onto the bed. Lily, starting to notice this, sighed and got to her feet.

'Got to go,' she muttered. 'Detention.'

'When?' Marley posed. 'I'll escort you.'

'In about five.'

* * *

**Remus**

'Now,' James said, broomstick in hand. 'I'm pretty sure you can avoid the slide on a broom.' He passed it over to Remus, with a warning look that said not to break it. Remus, who was perfectly educated in flying such an object before, simply rolled his eyes. 'This isn't going to work, I'm telling you.'

James pulled a face. 'Speak for yourself. Just give it a try.'

He sighed and swung a leg over it, rising slowly into the air. Leaning towards the staircase, he started to ascend the spiral structure before a door swung open and he was greeted by Marlene and Lily. They both crossed their arms respectively.

'What do you think you're doing?' Marlene posed.

'Erm . . .'

She pointed to the common room. 'Down. Now.'

Remus sighed in defeat and turned the broom around.

* * *

Days passed. Lessons became increasingly more awkward as both he and Kayla had been paired up for a Potions assignment, and she wasn't willing to talk. She simply conducted the necessary work in cold, angry silence, while Remus fidgeted anxiously, not sure what to do. His own rage had long since worn off, and now he just felt like rubbish. James, Sirius and Peter had been doing huge, elaborate forms of sign language from across the room, nearly falling out of their seats (scratch that, James did it once) from such violent movement. After lessons, Remus never had a chance to track her down somewhere away from the girls' dormitory, as that was where she seemed to live now. She didn't even take a library break, which was odd.

Lily had taken the time to break down her moods for him at breakfast, all based on the going-ons that happened during the night. Apparently, she had started off by spontaneously bursting into tears, then that progressed into a violent rage over the next day or two, before becoming into a slightly quieter (but just as violent) state of irritability. Now, she was just plain angry, sitting and quietly brooding. He had started wondering how she was capable of such a feat, then Marlene (who was insisting that he called her Marley or she would pop her top) told him rather bluntly that girls were spectacular at holding grudges. That actually explained quite a lot.

Because Lily refused to be his "owl", he couldn't tell Kayla what he wanted through the other girl. Lily was slightly sympathetic to his cause however, and wasn't cold-shouldering him like Kayla was.

Remus felt lost. Genuinely lost.

* * *

It wasn't until a lot later that the idea occurred to him. Week five since arriving at Hogwarts had just rolled around, and as the sun was setting on Monday night, Remus retired to the boys' dormitory. Lily had just disappeared into the girls' tower, once again explaining to him that she wasn't passing on messages.

But . . . he had another way to.

Snatching up a scrap of parchment from his bag and fishing out a quill, Remus started writing. He would start off small – as in _really_ small.

**Please talk to me.**

He stood up again and called over James' owl (named after his favourite Quidditch player, Jeremy Davidson), before fastening the note to his leg.

'That room over there, okay?' he asked, leaning out the window with the bird on his arm and pointing. Jeremy gave him a look that said _seriously? You can't just walk there?_ before spreading his wings and gliding over to the other dormitory. Remus sighed and sat down on his bed, just hoping that she would read it.

Several long minutes passed before there was a tapping on the glass, and Jeremy was back outside again, wanting to get in. Remus pushed the window back open and he hopped onto the sill, hooting irritably. Remus inspected him. No note. Damn it.

Right when he was about to sit down and give up completely, he noticed the tiniest square of parchment tied onto the bird's claw. Remus untied it and unfolded the note.

_What about?_

Biting his lip, he picked up his quill again and scribbled a response.

**Aren't you angry?**

_So?_

**Can I at least say I'm sorry? You've definitely won this one.**

_Won what?_

**Arguments regarding life, I guess. But why are you so mad?**

Jeremy came back without a note this time. Grinding his teeth in frustration, Remus tried again.

**Come on, Kaye. Please?**

_Why am I so mad? I thought you knew, Remus._

**Well, so did I. But I need a more thorough explanation.**

_I . . . not now. Please?_

**Fine.**

He didn't know what to say. What _do_ you say when something like this happens? Then, a memory began stirring in the back of his mind.

**You know, I still haven't read that book. Pride and Prejudice, wasn't it? Do you reckon you could send it over to me?**

_That poor bird. You seriously want me to send it over?_

**Meet me in the common room. Fair?**

There was a long pause. A seriously long pause. Then:

_Alright. But only for a minute._

* * *

**Kayla**

She actually succumbed to him. She couldn't believe it. The whole time he was sending notes, she was always telling herself not to listen to him, to be as short as she possibly could. But, as he had done so many times before, Remus Lupin always managed to get her to do what he wanted.

Holding the book the her chest, Kayla stepped out of the dormitory and made her way down the steps, into the common room where he was waiting. Upon seeing her, a slight grin graced his features, but Kayla kept her expression neutral. She held out the book. 'Here.'

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her by the wrist. 'Come on, Kaye. Can't we try to put this behind us? I really think this has been dragged out for too long.'

'It's only been a couple of weeks,' she muttered, crossing her arms and staring at her feet.

'And they've been the worst "couple of weeks" in my life,' he shot back. That startled her. Looking up, eyes wide, she posed: 'Not even when - ?'

'Not even then,' he said firmly, cutting over her. 'And you have to realise that. You matter too much to me.'

'Remus Lupin,' she said, a small smile creeping on her lips. 'You always manage it. Every time you win, and I don't bloody know how.'

* * *

**Lily**

One detention later, Lily returned to the common room smelling horribly like rotten toad innards and desperate to get cleaned up. Despite Slughorn liking her, he hadn't been hesitant in setting her up with things to do.

Sadly, she ran into the last face she wanted to see.

'You don't smell too good, Evans.'

With a heavy exhale, she turned around slowly to find Potter right behind her, grinning.

'I am aware of it,' she said irritably.

'Would you like me to clean you up?' he posed, the smile never leaving his face. Instinctively, Lily cringed.

'No!'

'Aww, come on, Evans!' he whined. 'It'll be fine.'

'I will hex you!'

'I'd like to see you try.'

Oh, he was going to _get it_.

'_Facere viridis!'_

Potter winced, preparing for impact. Then he looked up with a triumphant smirk on his face. 'Ha! See? Nothing happened?'

Lily quirked an eyebrow. 'Oh? Are you sure about that?'

He paled, then looked down at his hand. 'Ahh!'

Leaping backwards, eyes wide, he inspected it further. Coloured an odd shade of green, his hand flexed as he made sure it was still his own. Slowly the colour started spreading all over him, even going as far to change his unruly black hair to something more suited to the skin of a watermelon.

Lily burst into laughter. 'Also, while I'm talking to you, are you even going to _start_ that book?'

He seemed to remember the bet and groaned audibly. 'Damn it.'

For the first time in quite a while, Lily felt victory.

* * *

**Marlene**

Marley absolutely hated pineapples. Damn Sirius Black.

* * *

**XD**

**I PROMISE you this will be explained next chapter! This is Marley's way of making a cliffhanger.**

**Question: For those Hunger Games fans out there, did Mockingjay pt 1 live up to your expectations (if you've watched it)?**

**My Answer: I don't know. I haven't seen it yet, but people are saying it was crap. Was it? I'm contemplating waiting for pt 2 to come out then watching them both at once.**

**Leave your answers in the reviews!**


	23. Year 2-Pineapples, WHY Pineapples?

**Heya!  
**

**I'm on holidays now! Yeah! For eight weeks, I think!**

**You know, without intending to, as of my last chapter, the word count was exactly 55,555. I saw it the other day and just went 'oh my god.' It was so RANDOM! And funny. I couldn't stop laughing. **

**Right, in the reviews, I really need someone to give me a crashcourse on how American highschools work. Because I have no idea. I can only relate Freshman, Sophomore, etc stuff to uni, not school. So, can someone give me a rundown please? It may be needed for a potential story later on. **

**rumbadumba: Oh my god, really?! I'm your first review?! I feel so awesome now! So, yeah, I have to take the Lily and James stuff slow as Lily basically hates him for the first five or six years - I can't just jump straight into it, though trust me, I've had to restrain myself. I forget their age about ten times a day.**

**Guest: Oh _nooooooo_. Australia is _hot_. When Christmas rolls around, it's always the middle of summer, which is what makes us different in my opinion. **

**Earth. bound. wolf: When in doubt, bring in pineapples.**

**Dr Crazy Glasses: Trust me, I know how hard typing on an iPad is. It really irks me. But I love Remus too! He's just so adorable and I want to wrap him in a blanket and stick him on a high shelf. And yeah, I didn't like Mockingjay as much as the other two - I found it too confusing. They were always in one place, then another, and no arena! I mean, I absolutely _love_ killing off my characters (you may want to stay on your guard, hehehe), but not EVERY SINGLE ONE! Veronica Roth did that too, and ughh!**

**Fires of Black Chaos: Trust me, I'm not a movie person either. And Blackcat hates it, because she wants me to watch so many dam movies! Lily's hex - um, yeah, accidentally left half of it out (he was meant to turn completely green, though I added that in minutes after you reviewed, lol) though in my defense, you can't expect second years to know too much. I can't go all-out imaginative just yet. I hope that this chapter makes up for it. Sorry :( 40 Celsius is . . . *quickly references temperature converter* 104 Fahrenheit. Nasty, eh? Our winters are only cold; we never get snow, and our summers are really hot. I swear we're getting hotter and hotter each year. This winter was so ridiculously mild that it wasn't even funny. **

**Pfft no they didn't die: Here is the answer to all of your pineapple-related questions. I also find it super hard to hold grudges - I have to think about it every bloody second of the day. I'm still a fence-sitter about Mockingjay, though according to Wolf, the Hanging Tree song bit is really awesome. I've heard a tiny bit, but it would be cool to see the whole thing. **

**Anyways, read, review, enjoy, yadayada, pretty standard stuff, eh? DO REVIEW, though. I WILL pass 100 this chapter. Got it? I WILL!**

**Cheers!**

**~Ice.**

* * *

_**23 – Pineapples. WHY Pineapples?**_

**Marlene**

From the top, then?

Alright.

The incident started when there were two children, one by the name of Sirius Prat Black, and the other was Marlene Goddess McKinnon.

Maybe that was a bit biased. But anyway, the point was that Sirius had tugged Marley along in an attempt to get into the kitchens. He had admitted that the Marauders hadn't figured out how to get in yet, but they knew the location. And so, Marley had the "honours" of helping him work it out.

Psh. Marley didn't have the same opinion.

'Here we are.'

Sirius skidded to a stop in front of a giant painting of fruit, and gestured with wide arms. 'The entrance we cannot figure out. Maybe you're smarter than we are.'

'Highly doubtable,' Marley muttered.

'Yeah, that's probably true,' he admitted. 'But still, any contribution is better than nothing.'

Marley sighed irritably. She really wasn't in the best of moods right now.

Sirius whirled on her. '_Why are you so grumpy?'_

She just about scoffed. No way was she telling him _that._ 'Nothing.'

Sirius gave her a flat stare and she waved him off, directing his attention back to the painting. 'Well?'

Instantly forgetting what they had just been talking about, Sirius grinned and continued explaining. 'We're supposed to tickle _something_. I just don't know what, yet.'

'The peach?' she suggested. He shook his head. 'It's not a very ticklish peach.'

'The banana?'

'Nope.'

'The mango?'

'Already tried.'

'The pineapple?'

Sirius opened his mouth to answer, then closed it again. 'No, actually. We haven't tried that.'

Marley gestured to the fruit. 'I'm not stopping you. Go right ahead.'

Sirius hesitantly reached out, then tickled the pineapple. Nothing happened. Then, there was the sound of a low growling echoing through the corridor.

'Did that pineapple . . . grumble at me?' Sirius asked incredulously.

'I think it did,' Marley muttered stepping back.

'Maybe I should try again . . .'

'_No!_'

But Sirius did it anyway. He reached out and gave the fruit another prod. Another snarl resounded around them.

'I think we should get out of here,' Marley muttered.

'Agreed . . .'

But they were too late. There was a bright flash of light, and Marley yelled out and closed her eyes, momentarily blinded. When she opened them again, she felt a little . . . different.

The walls were higher. She was looking at the room from a new angle.

'What the - ?' she cried, attempting to look around, but failing. Her head alone seemed to be sitting on the stone floor, and the rest of her body was gone. 'No!'

'Marley . . .' Sirius said slowly. 'Ah, bugger.'

'_What?_' she very nearly shrieked, looking at him. Except he wasn't there. There was only a pineapple. '_Where did you go?_'

'Right here!'

His voice seemed to be coming from the pineapple. Then, it moved almost as though it were attempting to turn around. Marley braced herself, preparing for the worst.

'Sirius? Where are you?'

'Here!' the pineapple shouted, twisting around completely. Marley screamed.

Yes, it was a pineapple. But it wasn't, at the same time. Sirius' eyes, nose and mouth were fused into the front of it. Sirius Black was a pineapple.

'You're a –'

'So are you!' he bellowed. 'You're a freaking _pineapple_, Marley!'

Her heart just about stopped right there and then.

'WHAT?'

She couldn't even look at herself, which was the worst. Sirius' eyes were panicked and wide as he surveyed her.

'WHAT THE FREAKING HELL DID YOU DO, BLACK? I WILL _KILL_ YOU!'

'I DON'T KNOW!' he cried. 'I DON'T BLOODY KNOW!'

'WELL KEEP YELLING BECAUSE WE MIGHT GET SOMEONE TO TURN UP. YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT! WHY DID YOU TICKLE THE STUPID PINEAPPLE?'

'YOU TOLD ME TO!'

'DON'T YOU REALISE THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER _EVER_ LISTEN TO ME? I'M A COMPLETE IDIOT! I NEVER KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!'

'BUT WHY DID YOU SUGGEST THE PINEAPPLE? WHY NOT THE PEAR?'

'KNOWING OUR LUCK, IT ACTUALLY _WAS_ THE PEAR! GODDAMNIT!'

'WHAT IS THIS RACKET? I HAVE PATIENTS DOWN HERE THAT NEED TO REST! CAN I NOT GO SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE WITHOUT NEEDING TO INTERFERE IN STUDENT QUARRELS? YOU WILL WAKE UP THE ENTIRE CASTLE!' A new voice joined the fray as Madam Pomfrey stormed down the corridor, looking mutinous. She didn't seem to notice the two pineapples sitting on the floor and looked around, searching for people. 'Well? Where are you? There's no use in hiding!'

'Oi! Lady! Down here!'

Pomfrey's head snapped around at the sound of Sirius' voice, and completely disregarding his impertinence, she surveyed the scene with a somewhat shocked expression. 'What have you _done?_' she cried exasperatedly. 'How did you manage _this_?'

If she could have pointed, Marley would have wordlessly gestured to the painting of fruit. Instead, she gave a rather flat response. 'Moody pineapples.'

The matron sighed and rolled her eyes, walking forward. Her heels made clacking sounds on the stone as she approached them, before she squatted down and picked the two of them up.

'I will get a proper explanation back at the Wing,' she said sternly, shooting disapproving looks at them. Marley just huffed while Sirius looked as though he were about to burst into laughter.

'You are _so_ going to get it,' she said irritably to him, giving him a warning glare. This was the trigger. Sirius was howling all the way back to the wing, revelling in Marley's obvious discomfort.

* * *

Upon arriving at the Wing, Pomfrey all but _tossed_ them each on to a bed before clucking in irritability and disappearing into the depths of a supply cupboard. Marley remained silent while Sirius laughing subsided into stifled guffaws. After a moment, he had another prod.

'Seriously, what's up? The Marley I know would love this! Haven't you ever had ambitions to be a pineapple?'

'Perhaps once,' she replied stiffly, 'but at the present moment, no.'

'Perhaps _once_,' Sirius repeated. 'Maybe that's because you're more of a mango person. Whaddya say to being a mango instead?'

The glare Marley was sporting was enough to shut him up in itself.

Pomfrey trotted back over, carrying two vials of a light blue substance. She uncorked both of them and tipped the liquid down each of their throats. Marley coughed and spluttered as it entered her systems, trying not to vomit it all back up. It was something like vinegar, mixed with extreme amounts of salt. Something like that is really hard to take in.

There was another blinding flash of light, and Marley winced. When she looked up again, Sirius was sitting (fully intact) on the other bed and looking relieved. His eyes then set on Marley and his eyebrows rose.

Yes, Marley was still a pineapple.

How? She didn't know.

Madam Pomfrey's brow creased as also noticed this, before a slight look of realisation came over her. 'Ah. I see. Stay here.'

'Wasn't planning on going anywhere,' Marley muttered. Sirius was busy flexing his hands and arms as though to make sure they were really there.

Pomfrey returned with a small jar of pink stuff and a full explanation. 'Despite being in another form, your bodies are still functioning as they should. They are, so to speak, condensed into the shape of the pineapple, but they are still there. As are all of the processes taking place, which is why you have retained vital organs such as your nose and mouth. Your respiratory systems are still functioning perfectly. However in regards to the hex, it is not intended to be long-lasting. You are only really using what is necessary until you are expected to change back. Unfortunately, this would usually have been roughly twelve hours.'

She unscrewed the lid off the jar and scooped up a spoonful, before mixing it into some of the leftover blue stuff. Marley grudgingly took it (less strong this time) and sighed in relief as she felt her body popping and changing in the blinding light. She was more than relieved when she opened her eyes again and inspected herself, relieved that she was also fully intact.

'Now,' she said, walking back over to the cupboard and putting everything away. 'How did you manage to do this?'

'It was the painting's fault,' Sirius said defensively, getting to his feet. 'Not mine.'

'No, it was completely your fault,' Marley snapped, wincing as she did the same. Her back was a little sore. 'I told you not to touch the freaking pineapple when it started growling the first time!'

'How was _I_ supposed to know this would happen, though?' he cried incredulously.

'You need to take a damn warning when you get it!' she shot back, arms akimbo.

'Go on, out!' Pomfrey said firmly, ushering them to the doorway. 'Take your pitiful quarrels away from here.'

'It was still your fault,' Marley grumbled.

'It was the pineapple's!'

* * *

'Where have you been?' Lily inquired curiously as Marley flopped into the armchair beside her.

'Trust me, you _don't _want to know.'

'That bad?' Her tone was dry. 'What did you do now?'

'_I_ didn't do anything. It was Sirius' fault.'

'Oh?'

'He got us turned into pineapples.'

Lily just about choked. '_What?_'

'Long story . . .'

* * *

**Sirius**

After explaining a very epic (and very inaccurate) version of events to James, both he and Sirius decided to have a game of chess to relax a little. Sirius still found everything positively hilarious, but he was knackered all the same.

James spent more time eyeing Lily and Marley who were sitting in front of the fire nearby, and a few times only pulled his head in just in time to save some vital pieces. Sirius just guffawed whenever he did this, and James responded by either ignoring him or punching him in the arm – two polar opposite responses.

The girls' conversation was carrying over to where they were sitting, and Marley was relaying the truthful version of the story, still sounding as irritable and grumpy as ever. Sirius was wondering what had caused it. Though, maybe it was best not to ask. He was aware how good she was at winning fights. He didn't exactly want to brass her off more than she already was at the moment. His face depended on it.

Though, it seemed that Lily was asking the question for him. 'Why are you so grumpy, Marls? I thought you would find that hilarious.'

'Psh,' Marley grumbled. 'Bloody _hilarious _my foot.'

Lily blinked, then sighed irritably. '_Marley . . .'_

'No, seriously, I'm failing to find this amusing.'

Lily shook her head slowly, and Sirius moved his queen diagonally three spaces, taking out James' bishop. He grumbled, but was obviously more interested in the other conversation as well.

'Are you alright?' Lily finally prodded.

Marley sighed. 'Yeah, 'm fine. Sorry, Lil. Wrong end of the month.'

Lily made a small o with her mouth then laughed slightly. 'Ah. Okay. That's fine, then.'

Sirius blinked. James blinked. They looked at each other, stunned expressions on their faces.

'Did you just hear what I heard?' James whispered hoarsely.

'Yeah,' Sirius muttered back. 'Do you think - ?'

'If it is, this is just_ crazy_.'

'Oh, wow. Should we - ?'

'Now or later?'

'Ask Remus first?'

'Nah, he's off somewhere. He'll take too long to track down.'

'But he's the expert in this.'

'Ask _her _first.'

'Again, now or later?'

'Now.'

They both pushed back their chairs which made scraping sounds against the floor and got to their feet, crossing the room to Marley, standing right in front of both of the girls. They looked up from their conversation. Lily raised her eyebrows. Marley just crossed her arms.

'Can we talk to you?' James asked seriously.

She sighed. 'I've had enough of bloody pineapples for one day. Do I have to?'

'It's not to do with pineapples,' Sirius answered. She narrowed her eyes, but got to her feet. Lily shot her a confused look, but Marley waved her off, mouthing _I'll be fine_. Lily nodded and relaxed in her chair again, taking a book up from the coffee table.

Sirius and James led Marley into an empty corner of the common room, making sure to keep their voices low.

'We need to ask you an important question,' Sirius said.

'Please tell us the truth, okay?' James added.

Marley's eyes narrowed even further. 'What's this about?'

'We couldn't help but overhear before -' Sirius started.

'See, at least I told the truth about what happened,' Marley groaned resting her forehead on her fingertips.

James looked confused. 'Wait, what?'

Sirius grinned guilty. '_Maybe_ Acromantula weren't actually involved.'

James rolled his eyes. 'Should've guessed.'

'Anyway,' Sirius continued, 'we're getting off topic. We overheard something and we need to ask you -'

'Are you by any chance a werewolf?' James asked, grabbing her by the wrist. 'Are you?'

Marley blinked. '_What?_'

'You heard him,' Sirius said. 'You are, aren't you?'

She wrenched her hand out of James' grip. 'Where the hell did you get that inclination? What the – _werewolf? What?_'

'Well,' James said, wringing his hands, 'you said something about it being the "wrong end of the month", and we just thought –'

Marley smacked both of them upside the head. _Hard._ 'You're a pair of idiots, both of you!' she very nearly screeched, trying to keep her voice as quiet as she could. 'You're so _stupid!_'

'What did we miss?' Sirius asked quickly. 'I was so sure -'

'Do you even know _anything?_'

'It's very possible that we don't -'

'Seriously, you do _not_ ask a girl a question like that.'

'Why not?'

Sirius really wished he hadn't asked. Five minutes later when he and James walked away, they still had red marks on their faces. The only difference was that now they were considerably more enlightened in regards to the female anatomy.

'You _had_ to ask, didn't you?' James grumbled irritably. Sirius watched Marley walk back to Lily. She muttered a few choice words to her, and they both burst into uncontrollable laughter. Sirius flushed red and looked away. He seriously thought he wouldn't be able to look at Marley the same way again.

'You were the one who _said_ to ask,' he muttered.

'Shut it, you.'

* * *

**Every female within a 100km radius better be _howling_ with laughter right now XD  
**

**Wolf and I have been talking about this and cackling about it, because we found the idea so hilarious. And now, I've stuck it in.**

**And now I bet the blokes are just feeling awkward. Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha**

**Oh well. Just focus on the pineapples instead, eh?**

**Question: Play an instrument?**

**Answer: Piano and guitar. Funny thing is, my parents were also talking about buying me a _drum_ set. Wondering how that will turn out . . .**

**Leave your answers in the reviews AND MAKE SURE WE HIT 100!**


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